AAP criticises BJP for not supporting Delhi govt's anti-dengue campaign

AAP Rajya Sabha MP, Sanjay Singh on Monday criticised the BJP for not participating in the Delhi government's anti-dengue campaign and accused the party of playing politics over issues of public welfare.

He said that the campaign "10 hafte, 10 baje, 10 minutes" received support from people including Bollywood celebrities, sportspersons, journalists. "However, the BJP has opposed to a good initiative launched by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal," he told reporters during a presser.

Calling the BJP's non-cooperation as "unfortunate", Singh said that not a single BJP leader came out to participate in the initiative to make Delhi Dengue-free.

He said, "When Prime Minister Narendra Modi came up with the 'Swach Bharat Campaign', Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal joined it and also urged the citizens to participate in the campaign."

Singh further said that the BJP-ruled MCDs in a statement claimed that there were no dengue larvae in MCD schools and offices. "It's hard to believe that no MCD schools or offices have any Dengue larvae. However, we will inspect every place. I think any party should not oppose any good cause just for the opposing it," he said.

"Delhi had 15,000 cases of dengue when we came to power in 2015 but after the continuous effort, the number of Dengue cases has now come down to 2700. In 2015, nearly 60 deaths were reported due to Dengue which has come down to zero due to the effort of Delhi government," Singh further said.

He urged the BJP to support the Delhi government to make the initiative successful.

On September 1, Kejriwal had launched the campaign '#10Hafte10Baje10Minute' by inspecting his house for clean standing water. Dengue mosquito larvae breed in clean and stagnant water, and they thrive in this season.

The campaign has garnered support from several celebrities including former cricketer Kapil Dev, Bollywood actor Tapsee Pannu, Emran Hashmi, and Swara Bhaskar.

( With inputs from ANI )