Kejriwal hits back at critics, says capital's LG, municipal corporation responsible for chikunguniya

NEW DELHI: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and his AAP colleagues on Monday went all out on the offensive against their critics and said it's the capital's BJP-run municipal corporation and its Lieutenant Governor (LG) who are to blame for the chikunguniya deaths this year.
Four people have died since Sunday due to the vector-borne disease.
Responding to some critics who accused him of ignoring Delhi - as AAP tries to make inroads in other states - Kejriwal said that was just envy speaking.
"Your concern is not Delhi. Your concern is that we are winning other states and defeating the (opposition) BJP," the Delhi chief minister tweeted.
In the power struggle between the elected Delhi government and the centre - over who has primacy in the Capital - the Centre has given itself more power, Kejriwal said.
"The CM and ministers are left with no power now, even to buy a pen. LG and PM enjoy all powers. With regard to Delhi, the LG's abroad, question him about (the chikunguniya situation in) Delhi," CM Kejriwal said.
AAP member, Ashutosh, in fact squarely blamed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). "The whole and sole responsibility to prevent mosquito breeding is with Delhi's MCD but see the condition states rising cases of chikungunia' "he said on Twitter.
Delhi's deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia alleged that the nexus of bureaucrats and the BJP-appointed Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung hamper the Delhi government's work.
"Good for nothing and lazy officers have been put in charge of the health department. Bureaucrats don't attend minister's meetings, they in fact disappear from their offices for the whole day. In the last two months, all of Delhi's bureaucrats have done just one job. On the LG's orders they've been reading the last 18 months' files and passing it on," Sisodia alleged.
The deputy CM criticized the Centre, too, saying that when it was convenient it blamed the AAP government, even though it has given the LG more power.
"People should decide who runs the government, the chief minister or the LG. If they believe all the power in Delhi should be with the LG then they should ask him what his duty is in situations like this (chikunguniya rise)," Sisodia said.