Virendra Sachdeva defends BJP govt’s borrowing, hits back at AAP
Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva on Saturday criticised remarks by AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj regarding the Delhi Government’s proposed Rs 1,000 crore borrowing, saying that loans taken by state governments for administrative and development purposes are a routine financial practice.
Responding to the criticism, Sachdeva said, “For state governments, taking loans from the Reserve Bank of India or, with its permission, from any financial institution or the open market for long-term or short-term periods is a normal administrative financial practice.”
He also accused the previous Aam Aadmi Party government of leaving behind a substantial debt burden.
“The Delhi AAP government, after 11 years in power, left a debt of Rs 1.20 lakh crore, according to the Delhi Government’s own figures for 2024–25,” he said.
Sachdeva said the current government led by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta had proposed a comparatively small loan focused on development works.
“While the Rekha Gupta government has proposed a loan of only Rs 1,000 crore in its first year in power for development activities, the AAP government had proposed taking a loan of Rs 10,000 crore just two months before the elections for election freebies,” he said.
The BJP leader also referred to the financial situation in Punjab, which is governed by the AAP.
“If only Saurabh Bharadwaj had remembered before speaking that his party’s Punjab government had taken loans worth Rs 50,000 crore in its very first year and today Punjab has a debt of more than Rs 4 lakh crore,” he said.
Sachdeva added that previous governments in Delhi had also taken loans from the Government of India and other financial institutions, with the permission of the Reserve Bank of India, to meet administrative and development requirements.
He further claimed that earlier AAP-led governments had sought loans in 2020 and 2022, and that another loan proposal had been made in November 2024 from the National Small Savings Fund ahead of the elections.
