New Delhi, Mar 18 (PTI) Senior BJP leader and former Union minister Vijay Goel took out a cycle rally here on Thursday, demanding Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal should step down over the pollution levels in the city.

If the Delhi government wanted, it could have taken concrete steps in time to reduce pollution, Goel said, referring to a report that has flagged the city as the most polluted capital city in the world.

"Kejriwal is responsible for Delhi being the most polluted capital city in the world," Goel said, quoting the World Air Quality Report prepared by IQAir.

"On one hand, Kejriwal is asking for more rights than LG in Delhi, and on the other, he has failed to develop Delhi by not using the powers he already has," the BJP leader charged.

Goel's cycle rally from his residence in Bengali Market to the Delhi Secretariat was cut short by the police at ITO. He was accompanied by BJP MLAs Jitendra Mahajan and Anil Bajpai.

Responding to Goel's demand, Aam Aadmi Party chief spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj said Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar should be removed instead for allegedly "failing" to take concrete steps to curb pollution.

"The Union environment minister is directly responsible for 22 cities of India featuring among the 30 most polluted in the world," he charged.

Delhi, which was once the most polluted city in the world, is today the 10th most polluted, Bhardwaj stated.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)