In order to protest against the unnecessary cores of money spent on publicity being done of Kejriwal under the name of Odd Even scheme, MP Vijay Goel on Monday 10:00am will leave his house in an odd car with the number DL 3CCC 2727 for Parliament annexe.
Mr. Goel said that he is not against the Odd Even scheme but against the gross misuse of public funds amounting to crores of rupees to publicize the CM and plaster his photograph everywhere in the city and beyond. Visit any corner of the city and you will come across huge hoardings, plenty in number with Kejriwal’s photo on it. The ridiculous publicity is not limited to just hoardings, but advertisements on radio and TV channels every 5 minutes, full page Advt. in newspapers are the norm as if people aren’t already aware of the scheme.
Mr. Goel has demanded that the CM should be personally liable to refund the expenditure on the publicity of the scheme to the public exchequer and he should also apologize to the people of Delhi.
Mr. Goel said that he fails to understand that why every 15 days on an ad hoc basis the scheme is being implemented if it indeed is so popular among the people – why not implement it permanently? It is because then Mr. Kejriwal will not have any excuse to spend taxpayer money on his own publicity.
Mr. Goel added that it is common sense that people who are exempted from the Odd Even rule are happy with the scheme and those who are not are disappointed. It is quite clear that this scheme has nothing to do with reducing pollution levels as the vehicles that are more polluting are on the roads in large numbers and those that are least polluting have been taken off the roads. Moreover, other major reasons for pollution are being ignored completely.
Mr. Goel sympathized with the common man and said how can he/she afford to pay Rs. 2000 as fine. If the fine for cutting a red light and not wearing a seat belt or helmet is around Rs200, then it is criminal to have a fine of Rs.2000 for not following the Odd Even rule. Flowers should be given instead.
Mr. Goel said that him paying the fine is a symbolic protest against the corruption being practiced under the garb of the scheme. The success or failure of the scheme is not in the hands of AAP and BJP. The final verdict will be that of the public.