On last day of House session,BJP govt. blames Oppn. forpollution; all hot air, says AAP

The final day of the Winter Session of the Delhi Assembly on Friday saw an intense exchange between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over the air pollution crisis in the national capital.

While Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa accused the previous AAP government of “years of inaction”, AAP MLAs countered that Delhi’s air quality has deteriorated the most under the BJP rule.

During a two-hour discussion on pollution, Mr. Sirsa said the government had shifted focus from “publicity-driven” measures to tackling pollution at its source. “While the previous government spent hundreds of crores on odd-even and smog towers, our government used the same resources to repair roads, reduce garbage mountains and address real sources of pollution,” he said.

‘Complete failure’

The Minister cited assessments by global agencies such as the World Health Organization and IQAir from 2014 to 2025, which repeatedly ranked Delhi as the world’s most polluted Capital, claiming they “exposed the complete failure” of the AAP government. Referring to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India’s findings, Mr. Sirsa said the “odd-even scheme failed to reduce pollution”, the Pollution Under Control system remained weak, and required air-quality monitoring stations were not installed.

He also alleged excessive spending on publicity around a single smog tower, despite its negligible impact on ground level.

AAP MLA and former Environment Minister Gopal Rai, in response, said the BJP was hiding its own failures behind selective criticism. “On Supreme Court directions, two smog towers were built, one by the Centre at Anand Vihar, and the other by the Delhi government at Connaught Place. Equal money was spent as the tender went to the same agency,” he said.

Questioning the government’s record, he asked, “Why doesn’t the government talk about its failed artificial rain experiment despite spending crores?” 

Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the Opposition should “appreciate that even though our attempt at cloud seeding failed, we tried”.

She said substantial funds were being released to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD)for garbage and road-cleaning efforts. “Delhi is moving from a gas chamber to a green Delhi,” Ms. Gupta said.