With air pollution, politics too peaks: AAP bangs thalis to ‘wake’ CM, BJP says ‘shameless’

Gathering outside the Delhi Secretariat, AAP workers accused the BJP-led Delhi government of “fraud and manipulation” in tackling the pollution crisis. In response, the BJP accused AAP of political hypocrisy, and of having failed to address the pollution question during its decade in power in Delhi.

📍 दिल्ली सचिवालय

प्रदूषण तुमको जाना होगा, अब तो भाई जाना होगा‼️

दिल्ली में बढ़ते प्रदूषण के ख़िलाफ़ आम आदमी पार्टी के कार्यकर्ताओं ने दिल्ली सचिवालय के बाहर विरोध प्रदर्शन किया।

इस दौरान AAP दिल्ली के संयोजक @Saurabh_MLAgk जी के साथ अन्य नेताओं व कार्यकर्ताओं ने थाली बजाकर… pic.twitter.com/hYfRZA4jni

— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) December 16, 2025

Since suffering a major setback in the Assembly elections held at the beginning of this year, the AAP’s street mobilisation has been fairly limited. The only other protest it has held outside the Delhi Secretariat was over the BJP’s alleged failure to fulfil its election promise of providing free LPG cylinders to women, when the party demonstrated at 40 locations across the city.

The party has also staged a handful of protests on fee hikes in private schools. Pollution has until now featured largely in the AAP’s social media campaigns.

AAP Delhi president Saurabh Bharadwaj told The Indian Express, “We have been protesting against pollution through various means, mostly through social media. Our MLAs have been visiting different areas and updating the situation on the ground. But it was high time we took to the streets on pollution.” More “creative protests” would follow in the coming days, he said.

At Tuesday’s protest, AAP leaders banged thalis and spoons, saying their intention was to “wake up” Chief Minister Rekha Gupta. In a statement, Bharadwaj accused the BJP government of not implementing Supreme Court-mandated GRAP measures, and alleged that AQI data were being fudged and construction activity was ongoing despite severe pollution.

Delhi BJP media head and spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor retorted that Delhiites were “stunned by the shamelessness” of AAP leaders.

“When Delhiites themselves compare the pollution levels of previous years with this year’s pollution levels, they feel much relieved. However, after seeing today’s protest on pollution by AAP leaders with a handful of workers, people are saying that it is a case of the pot calling the kettle black,” he said in a statement.

The protest only highlighted AAP’s failure to deliver a pollution-free Delhi during its years in government, he said.

Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav, meanwhile, wrote an “open letter” to Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs across the country, flagging air pollution as a serious public health emergency, especially for children and the elderly.