The BJP on Thursday launched a scathing attack on Delhi state chief Arvind Kejriwal after a newspaper report claimed that many of his government's plans remain on paper and have not taken shape in the national capital.
Terming Kejriwal as "useless" and "incompetent," the BJP's Amit Malviya declared that the AAP chief was promoting his accomplishments despite no work being done by his government.
"Arvind Kejriwal is a useless Chief Minister. He only makes big announcements but there is no follow up on them… Most of them remain on paper or worse find their way to expensive advertisements in newspapers and TV. Delhi hasn’t had such an incompetent CM," Malviya tweeted Thursday morning.
The flak came after the Indian media report about the Planning Department, which showed the Delhi government's initiative to build a school with boarding facilities for homeless children had seen little progress, despite being announced nearly six months ago.
Among other projects that were still to see the light of day was the "Delhi Shopping Festival," a grand government-sponsored shopping festival for residents of the megapolis.
There were also plans to open 24/7 restaurants, clubs, and bars; the creation of Asia's biggest wholesale garment hub in Delhi; and redevelopment of the Gandhi Nagar market. A policy regulating so-called "cloud kitchens" - commercial kitchens meant for preparing food for delivery or takeout only, with no dine-in customers - was also meant to be set.
Notably, INR 2.5 billion ($30 million) was allocated for the organization of the shopping festival, but Delhi's Planning Department hasn't announced any date for its conduct.
When asked about the timeline of the event, the government could only say, "The dates are under review and it is still in planning stage."
The cloud kitchen policy suffered the same fate as the government confirmed that it was still to be implemented.
"The scheme is still under process. Inputs for the policy from the different departments have been called and policy under preparation."
The government report, which mentions the progress of various projects under the Kejriwal government, came as a shot in the arm for the BJP ahead of the mayoral elections in Delhi on Friday.
In last month's civic polls, the AAP ended BJP's 15-year control over the city's municipal body, winning 134 seats to the latter's 104.