New Delhi, Oct 28 (UNI) The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government of committing a “fraud” in its name of artificial rain, after claims of a successful weather modification experiment in Delhi were contradicted by official data.
The controversy erupted after the BJP government announced it had conducted cloud seeding operations on Tuesday to mitigate the city’s pollution. However, AAP’s Delhi State President, Saurabh Bharadwaj, presented a report from the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) which stated that no rainfall was recorded anywhere in Delhi on that day.
“The BJP government claimed to have carried out artificial rainfall, but not a single drop fell in any part of the city,” Bharadwaj stated at a press conference.
He cited confirmations from AAP MLAs Kuldeep Kumar and Sanjeev Jha, who reported no rainfall in their constituencies of Kondli and Burari, respectively. Bharadwaj added that he personally visited Central Delhi in the afternoon and found no trace of rain, noting that the ground was dry even in the Lutyens’ zone, which houses high-profile government residences.
“If Lord Indra makes it rain, BJP ministers will hold a press conference and claim that it was their doing,” he said. He further claimed that there is no technology to distinguish between natural and artificially induced rain, which could allow the government to “claim credit for Lord Indra’s work” while making payments to contractors.
