In a major reversal, the BJP-led Delhi government has reinstated the authority of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) CEO to clear projects worth up to ₹50 crore—exactly what Arvind Kejriwal had implemented a decade ago. Senior AAP leader and Delhi Assembly Leader of Opposition (LoP) Atishi said this U-turn proves the BJP had no real reason to revoke the power in the first place, except to harass the people of Delhi. Even with limited powers and relentless obstruction by the Centre, the AAP government outperformed BJP’s so-called four-engine model.
On the question of granting the DJB CEO powers to approve projects up to ₹50 crore, senior AAP leader and Delhi Assembly LoP Atishi said, “At a time when Delhi needed urgent water reforms, the Arvind Kejriwal government empowered the DJB CEO to sanction projects up to ₹50 crore to expedite the development of water infrastructure, sewer lines in unauthorised colonies, and water treatment plants. For eight years, DJB worked rapidly on the basis of this decision.”
Atishi added that it was the BJP’s bureaucrats who later obstructed progress by opposing these powers. “BJP-backed officials claimed that the DJB CEO shouldn’t have such authority and used it as a pretext to halt grants, loans, and financial support to the DJB. This issue was raised repeatedly in the Delhi Assembly. And today, the same BJP shamelessly claims credit for granting this power to the CEO—a power that was given by Arvind Kejriwal a decade ago,” she said.
She further revealed that the BJP removed this power from the DJB CEO two years ago with the sole intent of creating hurdles in Delhi’s governance. “Despite having fewer powers and constant obstruction from the central government, Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP continued to outperform the BJP’s so-called ‘double-engine’ government. We gave Delhi 24×7 power supply at the cheapest rates, laid thousands of kilometres of water and sewer lines, provided sewer connections in unauthorised colonies, prevented private school fee hikes, improved education in government schools, and delivered free healthcare through Mohalla Clinics,” said the former Delhi Minister.
Calling out the BJP’s abject failure despite controlling all levers of power, Atishi said, “The BJP’s four-engine government has total control, yet it fails to deliver. Instead, it is making the lives of Delhiites miserable with power cuts, rising electricity tariffs, and contaminated water supply. People are forced to approach courts—sometimes the NGT, sometimes the High Court—over complaints of no water, dirty water, and even coliform contamination, meaning sewage is mixing with drinking water. Is this the kind of ‘power’ the BJP boasts about?”
Atishi concluded by stating that no amount of lies can hide the truth: it was Arvind Kejriwal’s visionary leadership that empowered the Delhi Jal Board to serve the people of Delhi, and it is the BJP that has persistently tried to derail that mission.
