BJP holds AAP govt responsible for Bawana fire incident that killed 17

NEW DELHI: A day after the Bawana fire incident that claimed 17 lives, the BJP jumped to defend its north Delhi mayor and held the AAP government responsible for the tragedy charging it of negligence.

Politics over the blaze at a firecracker storage unit in Bawana heated up after a video captured North MCD mayor Preeti Aggarwal purportedly telling one of her aides that she cannot comment on the licensing aspect as it comes under the civic body's jurisdiction.

The North MCD mayor has trashed the video, which was also retweeted by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, as "fake". BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi, in a press briefing, asserted that Aggarwal did nothing wrong.

"She did not want to talk about it because the municipal corporation had passed a resolution for abolishing factory licensing in 2015 and Delhi government is sitting over it," Lekhi said in a press conference.

The New Delhi MP also claimed that the North Delhi Municipal Corporation had got the license of the factory, running in Bawana, cancelled.

"The factory department of the municipal corporation has no role in issuing license to units in industrial area of Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC)," she said.

Aggarwal, who was present in the press conference, claimed that the North Delhi civic body had got the license of the factory cancelled in 2015.

Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari also defended Agarwal.

"What can be more disgusting than this when Chief Minister @ArvindKejriwal tweets a fake video. The license for this factory was being given by Delhi government and its Industries Department," he tweeted.