Delhi min Gopal Rai thanks people who gave firecrackers a miss; BJP claims AAP ‘defamed’ Sanatan community

“Some people burst firecrackers; I want to request them, just like the entire Delhi is engaged in observing festivities alongside saving people’s lives, if you, too, had cooperated, the level of pollution would have been lower,” he added.

He further appealed to BJP-ruled states neighbouring Delhi to enforce an active ban on the use of firecrackers.

Countering Rai, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said Delhi residents woke up to air quality “better than usual”. “The truth is dust from daily vehicular traffic on Delhi’s broken roads has a far greater impact than the firecrackers lit on a single night… we demand Arvind Kejriwal, Atishi and Gopal Rai acknowledge that they were defaming the Sanatan tradition of firecrackers and apologise to the Sanatan community,” he added.

South Delhi BJP MP Ramvir Singh Bidhuri blamed both the AAP government and MCD. “The broken footpaths also cause dust pollution… the AAP-led MCD is not cleaning roads…,” he said, also alleging that the AAP government has not been able to check open waste burning