NEW DELHI, July 9, 2025—Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Shri Devender Yadav said that both the Aam Aadmi Party and the BJP were shedding crocodile tears for the ban on old vehicles run on diesel and petrol as both were complicit in effecting the ban in the Capital, which has now been deferred due to public outcry. He said that the Aam Aadmi Party is now putting on a show against the ban on petrol vehicles older than 15 years and diesel vehicles older than 10 years, despite being a part of the decision when it was in power.
Shri Devender Yadav said that the advisory from the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has revealed the true colors of both the Aam Aadmi Party and the BJP, as both were indulging in mere drama to mislead the public. He said that the real aim of both these parties was to help benefit vehicle dealers and car manufacturers. He said that had their intentions been genuine, they would have approached the court, but they have not done so, which exposes their duplicity.
Shri Devender Yadav revealed that the collusion between the Aam Aadmi Party and the BJP has been evident since CAQM’s Advisory No. 16, dated November 11, 2024, when the Aam Aadmi Party was in power in Delhi. Not only did they agree to this plan, but they also actively participated in the meetings of the high-level task force formed under the supervision of the Prime Minister’s Office and helped implement the plan.
Shri Devender Yadav specifically mentioned the high-level task force meetings held on October 13, 2023, September 23, 2024, and October 10, 2024, stating that the Kejriwal Government itself proposed installing ANPR cameras at over 500 petrol pumps to halt the supply of petrol and diesel and to identify old vehicles — a fact confirmed by the CAQM advisory.
Shri Devender Yadav said that “the Aam Aadmi Party is pretending to be a sympathizer of the people now, even though it is the very source of this policy in Delhi”. He added that “Now that public anger has flared up, they AAP are portraying themselves as victims. Only hollow statements are being made about the policy run with the approval of the PMO—no matter what Rekha Gupta says, she can do nothing in front of the Prime Minister’s Office.” He said that had the Aam Aadmi Party taken concrete steps to curb pollution instead of creating an advertisement-based aerial plan and had implemented projects instead of corruption, this situation would never have arisen”.
Shri Devender Yadav questioned that if the Kejriwal Government had objections to the CAQM’s advice, why didn’t they approach the court at that time? He said that in the recent CAQM meeting, Delhi’s Chief Secretary advocated evaluating vehicles based on their fitness rather than their age under the Motor Vehicles’ Act, but under pressure from the Prime Minister’s Office, there is virtually no scope for any concrete decision.
Shri Devender Yadav asked that if the current discussion is about technical faults in the ANPR cameras, was there any corruption involved in their purchase during the Kejriwal government’s tenure? Since most of the cameras were bought when Kejriwal was in power, will there be an investigation into this?
Shri Devender Yadav said that the Rekha Government has only continued with the anti-people policies implemented by the Aam Aadmi Party Government. But now both parties are accusing each other to deceive the public. He said, “The real culprits attacking the livelihood of millions of vehicle owners in Delhi are those who designed and implemented this plan.”
He also mentioned that according to the latest order from CAQM, starting November 1, a fuel ban will be imposed on older vehicles in Delhi, and the Rekha Gupta government has extended this decision to five other districts in the NCR as well.
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