New Delhi, July 31 (Agency) The Aam Aadmi Party on Sunday gheraoed the headquarters of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to protest against the hike in various taxes by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) including levied on property which was doubled recently. Senior AAP Leader Durgesh Pathak alleged the saffron party on backtracking its promise of imposing no new tax during election campaign at a time when the people are still recovering from the economic impact of Covid-19 “Manoj Tiwari promised to neither impose a new tax nor to hike the existing taxes in Delhi during BJP election campaign, but BJP backtracked on all its promises and continued to increase taxes.
People have still not recovered from the devastating impact of COVID-19 pandemic; instead of providing them any relief, BJP is rubbing salt of their wounds by increasing tax burden. After the pandemic, doubling of house tax is a tyrannical move; they have no sense of humanity left, they don’t deserve to be in power,” he said. The AAP demanded MCD to rollback the increase in tax on property. “Our streets get filled with garbage if it is not picked on time. MCD should pick up garbage in a timely manner and take it to a far area for waste management. We requested them countless times to fix this problem but they turned a deaf ear and instead, they said that they even come to take money when someone constructs their house. We are fed up with the BJP’s MCD,” Pathak said. “They (BJP) are seeking revenge from the people of Delhi. Trade licence fee when you open a business, company or shop, you are required to obtain a licence from the MCD. Earlier, a mere Rs five hundred was charged to get that licence and now, you have to pay Rs one lakh for the same. COVID-19 destroyed all the businesses and the job of the government is to help people but instead, they are taking revenge by hiking the fee to exorbitant levels,” he added.
The AAP also said that it will involve the people in its protest again tax hike by MCD and turn it into a public movement. “We will go to every doorstep and run a signature campaign. We will interact with every citizen and prepare them to raise their voice against the BJP. If someone has doubled the house tax at a time when people are battling the pandemic, they cease to be human. BJP has shown so much apathy and they are working to destroy the entire Delhi. We have to get united to defeat them,” the AAP leader informed.