Stop dirty politics on bus marshals, Delhi CM Atishi warns BJP

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Atishi on Sunday warned BJP leaders to stop playing dirty politics over the reinstatement of bus marshals, claiming that the out-of-job civil defence volunteers (CDVs) were aware that their troubles were due to the saffron party and not the ruling AAP or its Convener Arvind Kejriwal.

The Chief Minister also dared the BJP to push officials to accept her government’s proposal, likely to be sent to Raj Niwas this week and get all the 10,000 CDVs regularised immediately.

Crediting Kejriwal for providing employment to over 10,000 bus marshals from poor families and deploying them to make bus travel safe for Delhi women and children, a combative CM Atishi said that the disruption in their service was due to “officers controlled by BJP.”

Looking to control the perceived political damage done to the ruling party over the issue in an election year, the Chief Minister said BJP’s officers stopped salaries of bus marshals in April 2023 and continuously made negative noting on files for sacking them.

“It was due to the efforts of the AAP government led by Arvind Kejriwal that the salaries of bus marshals were released despite roadblocks,” Atishi told media persons, claiming that Kejriwal has promised to join the bus marshals’ struggle till they are reinstated.

CM Atishi’s attack on BJP follows a letter written to her by Lieutenant Governor V. K. Saxena on Saturday, expressing displeasure over her inability to move a proposal to re-engage the CDVs for pollution control duties from November 1.

Saxena said that he had sought early re-appointment of civil defence volunteers as a measure to deal with polluted air in the city. “Their timely reinstatement would have helped fight pollution and contributed to their welfare,” said the LG.

On Sunday, CM Atishi described the BJP as a party which gets agitating bus marshals beaten with lathis and opposes the welfare of contract employees in Delhi and across the nation.

“Ahead of Assembly elections, the BJP had promised to regularise the services of lakhs of contract employees in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh but it has failed to do so,” said Atishi.

The CM also sought to present a report card of the AAP government in regularising contract employees in Delhi. “Over 10,000 contractual sanitation employees have been regularised in the past two years by the AAP government,” she said.

The Chief Minister said that during the week her government would send a proposal to regularise the services of all bus marshals but expressed fears that the BJP would not let the proposal get accepted.