NEW DELHI: Congress on Saturday hit back at BJP with a white paper titled ‘Five Years of Misrule of BJP in MCD’. MCD under BJP is “all false claims, no work”, the white paper said. Labelling the BJP rule as “catastrophic”, it listed 31 issues where BJP has failed to deliver.

Earlier this week, BJP had released a booklet, ‘Ghotale hi Ghotale’, carrying an illustration of chief minister Sheila Dikshit holding up a placard that reads “CWG Scams”. Releasing the booklet that listed 35 scams over 95 pages, BJP president Nitin Gadkari attacked the Congress rule both at the centre and in Delhi.

Citing the deaths in building collapses in Lalita Park, Chhattarpur, Chandni Mahal and Uttam Nagar, the Congress white paper blamed BJP for the mismanagement in these areas. “The inquiry commission report of Justice Lokeshwar Prasad held MCD fully responsible for the Lalita Park tragedy. According to the report, MCD flouted with impunity all rules and building bylaws, thereby killing 71 innocent people,” Congress alleged. “Buildings falling in the areas under the jurisdiction of MCD have come up on land reserved for roads. In this, the contractors have colluded with BJP leaders in MCD and wreaked havoc.”

Congress also attacked BJP on the ghost employee issue, saying “scandalous payment of wages to about 25,000 fictitious employees caused tremendous loss to the public exchequer to the tune of Rs 100 crore annually”.

The paper went on to talk about the criminal waste of public funds, leading to stopping construction of 24 multi-level parkings, 216 toilets and coffee houses and 1,000 waterless urinals. Accusing MCD for the parking mess despite collecting Rs 1,000 crore as parking and conversion charges, the white paper also showed how poor condition of industrial areas forced the Delhi government to take over the maintenance from the corporation. For the similar reason, the government took charge of the slum and JJ wing, it said.

Congress also alleged that crores of rupees paid to MCD under the Yamuna Action Plan for preventing open defecation on the riverbank were diverted, causing embarrassment to the Centre before the donor Japanese government.

Excerpts from CAG and Shunglu Committee reports on Commonwealth games projects and the tussle between the Delhi CM and the Delhi Lokayukta find a place of prominence in the BJP’s report card on the Congress. The list of scams thrown up by BJP is long with fingers raised on power privatisation, regularization of unauthorised colonies, water privatization and procurement of DTC buses. Besides CWG, the BJP takes on the Congress led UPA at the Centre over 2G Spectrum and Coal scams among others.