New Delhi, Nov 6 (PTI) Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Friday shot a letter to the mayors of the three BJP-ruled municipal corporations in the city asking them for payment of salaries to teachers, pointing out that the Delhi government has paid them Rs 960 crore this year as grant for education.

The AAP government in Delhi and the BJP that commands the municipal corporations have been taking potshots at each other, levelling allegations of corruption and fund delays in view of the civic body polls due in early 2022.

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Sisodia in his acerbic letter accused the Corporations of creating a financial mess and hit at the mayors saying they were "peddling lies" and asked them to rise above "petty politics" and focus on real issues of "corruption and financial mismanagement".

North Delhi mayor Jai Prakash, responding to Sisodia's letter, said it showed his "frustration".

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"Delhi government constituted Delhi Finance Commission and then accepted its recommendations. Now they owe Rs 13,500 crore to Corporations, out of which Rs 6,550 crore is of North Delhi municipal corporation as per 3rd, 4th and 5th DFC recommendations," he claimed. 

Prakash said Sisodia must explain when Kejriwal government is releasing the due amount of Rs 13,500 crore due to the Corporations. 

"He must also explain have they (AAP) ever given loan to local bodies since their party came to power. Moreover, during trifurcation we were promised a bail-out package by the then Chief Minister of Delhi Sheila Dikshit which has not been paid," he said.

Sisodia in his letter claimed the Delhi government has given Rs 960 crores to the BJP-ruled Corporations as a grant for education. The Delhi government was supposed to pay this by December 2020 but paid much before that, he claimed. 

"Despite this release of funds by the Delhi government, the BJP-ruled MCDs are not paying the salary of the teachers, therefore, they are on protest demanding their salaries," Sisodia said.

He asked the mayors, keeping in mind Diwali and the pandemic situation, to immediately release the salaries of the teachers.

(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)