Member of Parliament Vijay Goel violated the odd-even rule in protest and was fined for ₹4,000 on Monday afternoon on Central Delhi.
Mr. Goel was traveling in an orange coloured odd-numbered car ending with 7 and was penalized near a luxury hotel in Central Delhi, a senior officer confirmed.
BJP vice president Shyam Jaju and other party leaders also accompanied Mr. Goel in the SUV, which he drove from his residence on Ashoka Road, before being stopped near Janpath by traffic police personnel who challaned him.
Violation of the odd-even rule is punishable with a fine of ₹4,000. The fine was ₹2,000 in the earlier two editions of the initiative in 2016.
Mr. Goel’s car bore features slogans that said ‘ pradushan ki zimmedar Kejriwal sarkar, odd-even hai bekar’ and termed the scheme a drama.
In a long interaction with reporters at his residence this morning he said, “This scheme is just a gimmick. AAP government themselves say that the pollution is due to stubble burning then how does the scheme help?”
According to the scheme, non-transport vehicles having an odd or even number as the last digit of their registration are allowed to run on odd and even dates respectively.
“I am doing this as a symbolic protest against the Kejriwal government’s failure to do anything in five years to curb pollution in Delhi. It is now enacting a drama and an election stunt in view of the coming Assembly polls through the odd-even scheme,” he told reporters at his residence.
Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot later met Mr. Goel with a bouquet of flowers, urging him to not violate the rule as it was aimed at bringing down pollution.
Mr. Gahlot said the people of Delhi are following the scheme and BJP’s protest by violating it was wrong.
The odd-even scheme will continue from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. till November 15.
Mr. Goel also violated the second edition of the odd-even rule in April 2016. The scheme was introduced in Delhi by the AAP government in January 2016 to fight air pollution.
( With inputs from PTI )
