A high-level delegation of the Delhi BJP, led by state chief Virendra Sachdeva, on Monday, visited the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann at his residence in the national capital at Kapurthala House to submit a memorandum demanding immediate action on the stubble burning.

Sachdeva alleged that the increased incidence of stubble burning in Punjab is contributing to pollution across North India, including Delhi.

The BJP leader lamented that despite repeated representation against crop residue burning in Punjab, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai failed to engage with the concerned state government on the issue. “When we heard that CM Bhagwant Mann was in Delhi, our leaders sought a meeting with him to raise this matter, but regrettably, he refused to entertain us,” he said.

The BJP leaders claim that Mann refused to meet the delegation prompting the party to submit the memorandum at the Punjab Resident Commissioner’s office instead.

Leader of the Opposition in Delhi Vijender Gupta, who was also part of the BJP delegation, alleged that the AAP government in the state is insensitive to the issue. He called it unfortunate that even the Punjab CM refused to meet them on the issue of crop residue burning, which demonstrates the Aam Aadmi Party’s lack of commitment to addressing the issue of pollution.

BJP MP Manoj Tiwari, who was also present with the delegation, said, “The Delhi government has consistently betrayed Delhi residents on pollution and is defending Punjab’s failure to control stubble burning. This is unacceptable.”

Meanwhile, another parliamentarian, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, hit out at the AAP stating that till 2021, Arvind Kejriwal blamed Punjab for Delhi’s pollution, but now, after AAP came to power in the state, he started blaming other regions.

The memorandum submitted to Punjab CM via Resident Commissioner by the Delhi BJP states, “We are reaching out not for political reasons, but as concerned citizens of Delhi. The Air Quality Index (AQI) in Delhi has already reached 400, with no signs of improvement. With winter approaching, the situation could become even worse.”

“Despite efforts by your government, stubble burning in Punjab remains the biggest contributor to Delhi’s pollution. Your party, which governs both Punjab and Delhi, seems indifferent to the severity of the issue,” it read further.

The memorandum also mentioned a number of crop residue burning incidents on October 26 across northern states including Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, claiming that maximum were reported in Punjab.

The BJP delegation included Sachdeva, Vijender Gupta, MPs Manoj Tiwari, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, Yogendra Chandolia, Kamaljeet Sehrawat, Bansuri Swaraj, and Praveen Khandelwal.