AAP slams govt for ‘rebranding’ GPS tankers as new, terms it publicity stunt

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi state party president Saurabh Bharadwaj on Sunday accused the BJP-led Delhi Government of misleading the public by claiming to have launched GPS-enabled water tankers in the Capital.

Bharadwaj said the system had been in place since 2015 and termed the announcement as an attempt to “manufacture achievements” within the first 60 days of the new administration.

Taking a sharp dig at Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, Bharadwaj said the government had simply repainted old tankers and presented them as new.

“By repainting old tankers, CM Rekha Gupta is trying to mislead Delhiites. This isn’t governance, this is a joke,” he said.

Citing a decade-old news report, Bharadwaj said the GPS tracking of tankers was introduced under the previous government.

“Even in 2015, water tankers were GPS-enabled. When I served as Vice-Chairman of the Delhi Jal Board in 2022, the system was fully operational and real-time monitoring was being done from the DJB headquarters,” he said.

He also criticised the BJP government’s functioning, comparing it to the fictional rural administration depicted in the popular web series, ‘Panchayat’.

“In just two months, the BJP has reduced itself to ‘Phulera ki panchayat’, feeding people with absurd, baseless claims,” he said.

Bharadwaj accused the government of diverting resources for political events amid a water crisis gripping the city.

“With temperatures soaring past 40°C, hundreds of localities are dependent on water tankers. But the entire fleet was sent to Burari for a political event, leaving people high and dry,” he alleged.

Calling the BJP’s Rs 1 lakh-crore Budget “imaginary,” Bharadwaj said it lacked a realistic revenue basis.

“Budgets are based on projected income. But here, they’ve declared a figure and reverse-engineered numbers to make it look feasible,” he claimed.

He concluded by urging the CM to refrain from misleading Delhiites.

“If there’s no major achievement in 60 days, just say so. But don’t waste taxpayer money on such circuses,” he said, warning that the people of Delhi would not be fooled by rebranded announcements and hollow headlines.