AAP rule ended ‘raid raj’, boosted people’s faith: Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said his government has finished the “raid raj” in the national capital and asserted that people have paid more taxes since the AAP government came to power, leading to almost doubling of revenues this year in comparison to 2015.

Speaking at an event at the Talkatora Stadium here, he said in 2015, the revenues to the government from taxes stood at “`30,000 crore, which has jumped to nearly `60,000 crore this year”.

This is one of the many “wonders” that has happened in the last five years, Mr Kejriwal said, adding in 2010, the revenue collection from tax stood at `25,000 crores.

“So, in five years from 2010-2015, the revenues increased by `1,000 crore per year on an average but from 2015 to the present, it grew by nearly `6,000 crores per year.

“How did this wonder happen. Faith of people in the government has grown over these years. I have worked in the I-T department and we have thought about why people evade paying taxes. One of the reasons is that they may not want to do so if they feel there is corruption in the government at the helm of affairs,” Mr Kejriwal said.

But if they feel the government of the day is honest, they will pay taxes, he said.

“We have ended ‘raid raj’ and traders and businessmen are feeling relieved as they are not being harassed with raids. Now, people are willing to pay taxes as they know an honest government is in charge of Delhi,” the chief minister said to a thunderous applause.

Intensifying the Delhi government’s anti-dengue campaign, Mr Kejriwal addressed a gathering of representatives of various resident welfare associations (RWAs) as part of the mega drive.

The AAP government had last week said it had signed MoUs with RWA apex bodies — URJA and Citizens’ Alliance — as part of its initiative to reach out to RWAs across Delhi in a “big way”.