Delhi mayor attacks chief minister over women's safety

New Delhi, May 8 (IANS) Mayor of South Delhi Savita Gupta Tuesday attacked Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit over the rising cases of crime against women in the capital, saying that despite being ruled by a woman, the capital was unsafe for women.

"Sheila Dikshit has remained the chief minister for three terms but women are not safe in the capital. As you can see all the newspapers are full of this (crime against women). There should be security for women. We should work together for it," Gupta told reporters here after her first formal meeting with the chief minister.

She was also accompanied by mayors of East and North Delhi Municipal Corporations Annapurna Mishra and Meera Aggarwal - all from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

"It was purely a courtesy call. We discussed lack of staff and space in the corporations," said Aggarwal.

Though Dikshit assured the mayors of financial assistance, they demanded grant instead of loan.

"We should get grant not loan as we will keep paying 11-12 percent interest on the loan," Gupta said.

Dikshit also told the mayors not to indulge in 'blame game', said a senior government official, who did not want to be named.

She also told them to concentrate on basic responsibilities of the municipal corporations such as sanitation, cleanliness, road maintenance and street lighting, said the official.