NEW DELHI | Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj hit back at the BJP government for blaming Punjab’s farmers for Delhi’s record pollution levels on Diwali night, urging it to at least demonstrate a scientific outlook while discussing pollution data. He said that even if the BJP’s theory of stubble burning in Punjab were accepted, the smoke would take 2–3 days to reach Delhi and could not arrive in 10 minutes. Saurabh Bharadwaj urged the BJP to have some shame and stop manipulating AQI data, warning that such fraud could make people seriously ill and cost them their lives.
On Monday, AAP Delhi Unit Chief Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “Kapil Mishra is an outright liar. He has lied before and subsequently apologised in court. Kapil Mishra’s claim that stubble was burnt in Punjab on Diwali night, causing pollution in Delhi, is completely unscientific. First, if stubble is burnt in Punjab on Diwali night, its smoke will reach Delhi two to three days later.”
Saurabh Bharadwaj continued, “Second, the winds currently blowing are easterly winds, which means the air is moving from east to west. Therefore, even if stubble is burnt in Punjab, the smoke will travel westwards, towards Pakistan, and cannot reach Delhi. But if Delhi’s AQI was 3,000 on Sunday night because of stubble burning in Punjab, then the AQI should have been 3,000 all along the route from Punjab to Haryana. Did the smoke from Punjab reach Delhi in 10 minutes?”
He further said, “Having a scientific outlook is very important, regardless of whether someone is uneducated. If a person has a scientific outlook, they can speak sensibly; otherwise, they will speak like fools. Even people associated with the Delhi government are making foolish statements.”
Saurabh Bharadwaj explained that the government representatives are saying that there has been no smoke and that everyone is lying, because everything is going wonderfully in Delhi and they have kept the AQI under control. “The government is also claiming that Delhi’s AQI rose so sharply on Diwali night because a large number of farmers burnt stubble in Punjab that night. Even if stubble was burnt in Punjab, although these figures are false, the smoke would still take at least two to three days to reach Delhi,” he added.
Saurabh Bharadwaj further stated, “The Delhi government needs to learn something. It has been so many days now; how long will they continue making foolish statements? Stop fooling the people of Delhi. The AQI fraud committed by the government must stop. The government has installed new AQI stations in green areas to make the AQI appear lower, and water is being sprayed on AQI monitors day and night.” He asserted that the public has now become aware of this fraud and do not trust the government’s AQI data even one bit.
Meanwhile, Burari MLA Sanjeev Jha said, “Work on the AQI should come later; first, work needs to be done on the IQ of BJP leaders. The AQI is not coming down, but the IQ of these leaders is certainly falling. If we assume that stubble was burnt in Punjab on Sunday, would its impact be felt immediately in Delhi? If stubble was burnt in Punjab, the air in Punjab would first become polluted, then the pollution would travel through Haryana before reaching Delhi. If the wind is blowing at a speed of 10 to 15 kilometres per hour, its impact would be felt in Delhi after two to three days.”
Sanjeev Jha further said, “Only two kinds of people can claim that stubble was burnt in Punjab and Delhi’s pollution suddenly increased: either someone with a low IQ, or someone who is trying to hide the truth by lying. Punjab’s data shows that before the AAP government came to power, there were 72,000 incidents of stubble burning in Punjab in 2022, but today the figure is down to 1,500–2,000. Stubble-burning incidents in Punjab have declined by more than 90 per cent. Therefore, Punjab’s farmers should be applauded for achieving this.”
He stated, “The figures show that stubble-burning incidents have increased in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. BJP leaders are saying nothing in the states where stubble burning is increasing, but they are abusing the state that has reduced it because they hate the people and farmers of Punjab.”
The AAP MLA highlighted that on Sunday night, Delhi’s AQI had reached 2,000, 2,500 and even 3,000, causing immense distress to people. “People are still experiencing sore throats today, and many asthma and respiratory patients are in hospitals. This happened because a large number of firecrackers were burst. Who is benefiting from this? These people talk about promoting Sanatan Dharma, but the so-called custodians of Sanatan Dharma, the BJP, did not refrain from stealing from Lord Ram’s temple,” he added.
Sanjeev Jha said, “Bursting firecrackers does not make Sanatan Dharma greater; it only benefits firecracker manufacturers. Leaders like Kapil Mishra are lobbying for firecracker manufacturers and taking huge kickbacks and commissions. If firecrackers do not sell, the manufacturers will hold them by the neck. Therefore, for their own earnings, they have made the lives of Delhi’s people hell.”
He further told BJP leaders, “Do not claim to be the custodians of Sanatan Dharma, because no religious scripture says that Diwali cannot be celebrated without firecrackers. Diwali is the festival of lights. If the BJP was genuinely concerned about Sanatan Dharma, it could have provided one free gas cylinder to every household, allowing people to prepare festive dishes on gas stoves, celebrate Diwali with enthusiasm and promote Sanatan Dharma.”
Sanjeev Jha stated that BJP leaders are so deceitful that they are making these accusations because they do not want to do anything further to reduce pollution and know that they are incapable of reducing it. “They are trying to escape by making accusations, but they will no longer be able to do so, because the people of Delhi and the entire country are watching how dishonest and deceitful they are and how they have made people’s lives hell. The people of Delhi were deceived once and gave the BJP a chance after 27 years, but these people will never come to power in Delhi or in the country again,” he concluded.
