Delhi BJP MPs file writ petition against AAP for not implementing Ayushman Bharat scheme

Even as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) criticised the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme as a "scam", and asked Prime Minister Modi to study the Delhi health model, the Delhi BJP MPs have gone on a warpath.

The Delhi BJP MPs have gone ahead and filed a writ petition in the high court against the AAP government's decision not to implement the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme in Delhi.

Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, state president Virendra Sachdeva slammed the AAP and its convener Kejriwal for depriving lakhs of eligible people in Delhi of the Centre's health insurance scheme.

Also read: AAP blasts Modi over Ayushman Bharat scheme, dubs it a ‘scam’

A slugfest ensued between the BJP and AAP over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's criticism of governments in Delhi and West Bengal on Tuesday for not implementing the scheme. PM Modi had said that the Delhi and West Bengal governments had not implemented the scheme due to "political interests".

Sachdeva claimed that it was announced earlier by then deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in the Delhi Assembly that the Ayushman Bharat scheme will be implemented in the national capital. He slammed the AAP for going back on its promise.

Also read: PM Modi slams Delhi, WB govt for not implementing Ayushman Bharat scheme

He said the BJP will now fight a legal battle to ensure the benefits of the scheme are available to the elderly and other eligible persons in Delhi. PTI

(With inputs from agencies)