The tragic death of 50-year-old Sudhir Kumar - crushed under a large tree that fell on him and his 22-year-old daughter during heavy rain in Delhi Thursday morning - has led to a political blame game between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the opposition Aam Aadmi Party.
The national capital was hit by a particularly heavy spell of rain - after a cloudburst in Himachal Pradesh's Kinnaur district - early this morning, prompting a 'red' alert for the day.
There was significant flooding and waterlogging and 65 trees were uprooted, adding to the chaos.
Floods are an unfortunate regular occurrence when it rains in Delhi and always leads to a spat between the ruling party and the opposition, this time the BJP and the AAP.
VIDEO | Massive Tree Uprooted, Crushes Biker To Death In Delhi Rain Chaos
AAP boss and Arvind Kejrwal fired the first shot. In an X post, in which he shared a video of the Kalkaji tragedy, he slammed the BJP for 'what it has done to Delhi in just a few months...'
मात्र चंद महीनों में बीजेपी वालों ने दिल्ली का क्या हाल कर दिया… https://t.co/R0ugRND5vx
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) August 14, 2025
His colleague Atishi then wrote to the Chief Minister, the BJP's Rekha Gupta, and demanded the resignation of Parvesh Varma, the city's Public Works Department Minister.
Mr Varma must be held morally accountable, Atishi declared.
"That tree fell because of waterlogging on that road... over the past six months we repeatedly wrote to the government to ask for proper de-silting. They said 'we have cleaned all drains'. Hundreds of crores were spent in the name of monsoon preparation... now it is very clear there was absolutely no prep."
"It is also clear that the hundreds of crores seem to have gone into the pockets of BJP leaders... every part of Delhi is waterlogged, from north to south, east to west. All underpasses are flooded and twenty people have died in these rains. This is criminal negligence," the AAP leader told NDTV.
"Our demand," Atishi, who is the MLA for the Kalkaji area, "is that the PWD Minister, Mr Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma, must resign. Or Chief Minister Rekha Gupta must sack him.
ये लुटियंस दिल्ली में विशंभर दास रोड़ का हाल है।
— Atishi (@AtishiAAP) August 14, 2025
कुछ देर की बारिश में ही दिल्ली की सड़कें तालाब बन जाती हैं।
क्या ये है दिल्ली की मुख्यमंत्री @gupta_rekha और पीडब्ल्यूडी मंत्री @p_sahibsingh का ‘Proper Management'? pic.twitter.com/0YUGjIzPc5
In her posts on X Atishi, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, shared videos of flooded roads and slammed the BJP's 'four-engine' government - a reference to the party controlling the Delhi civic body, the city and federal governments, and the Lieutenant Governor.
Mismanagement by the 4-engine BJP Govt has not only submerged Delhi roads, but caused a water crisis in Kalkaji.
— Atishi (@AtishiAAP) August 9, 2025
The Giri Nagar pumping station is completely submerged. And the people of Giri Nagar, Kalkaji, Govindpuri and Govindpuri Extn are facing several days of water… pic.twitter.com/5dsOQNduVI
The AAP's Delhi unit boss, ex-MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj, also hit out, He accused the Delhi government of having neglected de-silt drains - to minimise floods - as ordered to by a court.
"Gai bhains paani mein, humari car bhi paani mein hai," he said sarcastically.
The BJP lost no time in responding.
Kapil Sharma, the Tourism Minister in Ms Gupta's administration, fired a crass jab at Mr Kejriwal, calling him a "shameless person". "You looted and ruined Delhi for 12 years (when the AAP was in power in the city) ... and today you are blaming the BJP for a falling tree?" he said on X.
The sharp attack and counterattack underline continuing rancour between the BJP and the AAP, with past flashpoints including the liquor policy allegations, in which Mr Kejriwal was accused of orchestrating an excise corruption scam of over Rs 2,000 crore and jailed for five months.
The BJP also accused Mr Kejriwal of corruption over refurbishment of the Civil Lines bungalow that was his residence as Chief Minister. The AAP leader was accused of misusing Rs 45 crore of taxpayers' money for uber-luxurious fittings that, allegedly, included gold-plated bathware.
The AAP and Mr Kejriwal have fiercely rejected both charges, insisting they are the victims of a political conspiracy engineered by the BJP to discredit its rival in the minds of voters.
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