AAP chief Kejriwal slams Delhi govt over cloud seeding; BJP hits back with London-Paris jibe

New Delhi, Oct 29 (PTI) A war of words erupted between the Aam Aadmi Party and the BJP over cloud seeding trials, with AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday claiming that all engines of the Delhi government have failed.

The ruling party hit back at the former chief minister saying he sold "false dreams" of making the city like London and Paris.

In a post on X, Kejriwal took potshots at the BJP over a report on cloud seeding in Delhi to check air pollution, saying its government in the national capital has completely failed.

After a gap of 53 years, cloud seeding trials were conducted by the BJP government in Delhi on Tuesday to induce artificial rain in the city. However, the weather department did not record any traces of rainfall in the city.

The Delhi government, in collaboration with IIT-Kanpur, conducted the trials in parts of Delhi, including Burari, north Karol Bagh, Mayur Vihar, with more such exercises planned over the next few days.

Quoting a media report which said that conditions were not conducive for cloud seeding, Kejriwal said, "Actually, all the engines of this government have failed. This government itself has completely failed." Hitting back, the BJP replied on X calling him "Sharab Ke Thekedar and Jamanati" referring to the alleged liquor scam under previous AAP government in Delhi and subsequent arrest of Kejriwal in connection with it.

The AAP chief is currently out on bail in a case related to the alleged scam.

The BJP alleged that Kejriwal was now offering his "wisdom" although for 11 years he "looted" Delhi by selling "false dreams" of making the city like London and Paris all the while enjoying luxuries at his "Sheesh Mahal".

Delhi was "ruined" during the "inaction" of AAP in the last 11 years, while the BJP government is now working 24 hours to make it a developed city, said the ruling party.

The opposition party termed the Delhi government's cloud seeding experiment on Tuesday as a "big fraud" and said it might attempt to steal the credit of (Hindu rain god) Lord Indra if actual rain happens.

On Wednesday, AAP questioned the Delhi government's recent cloud seeding exercise, saying no rainfall was recorded despite claims of artificial rain and raising doubts over the feasibility of such experiments in the national capital.

Addressing a press conference, AAP's Delhi unit chief Saurabh Bharadwaj said, "For the past few days, it was said that cloud seeding had been done in various areas of Delhi, but there was no rain anywhere." He also referred to previous statements made in Parliament, where three central government institutions had reportedly said cloud seeding was not suitable for Delhi due to meteorological and chemical factors. PTI SLB VIT VIT KVK KVK