New Delhi, Nov 3 — The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday hit back at Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa's allegation that stubbing burning in Punjab was causing pollution in the national capital, saying that the politics of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) "won't benefit by defaming" the state.
Earlier on Tuesday, Sirsa alleged that the AAP Punjab government failed to check stubble burning, which is contributing to pollution in Delhi.
In a self-made video, AAP's National Media In-charge Anurag Dhanda remarked that the situation of Sirsa is like that of a "student who did not study all year and then complains that the child sitting on the bench beside him did not allow him to take the exam".
Asking the Delhi government to "stop making excuses", he said: "The Bharatiya Janata Party government alone is responsible for Delhi's pollution. Why do you keep criticising and defaming Punjab?"
Dhanda claimed that when the Aam Aadmi Party government came to power in 2022, there were around 80,000 farm-fire incidents in Punjab.
"Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann worked with farmers, explained the issue to them, and with their cooperation brought the number down to fewer than 5,000 last year. This year, with farmers' support, farm-fire incidents in Punjab have become almost negligible," he asserted.
The AAP leader claimed that in Uttar Pradesh, farm-fire incidents are increasing by 25 to 30 per cent every year.
"In areas such as Meerut, Aligarh, Agra, and the entire western UP region, these incidents have risen sharply. Over the past few years, the situation has worsened. It is not the farmers' fault there. The NDA government, led by (Chief Minister) Yogi Adityanath, does not help farmers and does not provide them with resources," he said.
He also referred to Madhya Pradesh, claiming farm-fire incidents in the state are increasing by 150 per cent every year.
"Last year, 52 per cent of all farm-fire incidents in the country occurred in Madhya Pradesh alone," he said while arguing that despite being in power, the BJP government has failed to curb the incidents.
Dhanda also questioned the Rekha Gupta government over its efforts to control pollution in Delhi.
"Can you cite even one example of a step that the BJP government has taken to bring down pollution in Delhi? If you do nothing, how can pollution reduce on its own?" he asked.
He also questioned Sirsa about why preparations were not made in advance in Delhi despite knowing that the pollution levels rise during this time every year.
"Last time, you (Delhi government) said pollution would be reduced through cloud seeding and induced rainfall. Even that led to corruption, and money was wasted. Defaming Punjab will not benefit your politics, nor will it help the people of Delhi. If you want to reduce pollution in Delhi, you need to take concrete steps and tell people about those measures," the AAP leader asserted.
Moreover, Dhanda claimed that Punjab has "clear skies and clean air" as compared to Delhi.
"There is no stubble-burning smoke there at this time," he stated.
The AAP leader further said that the responsibility to answer "from where smoke is coming to Delhi" lies with the BJP government, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.