New Delhi: Delhi BJP functionaries, including MPs, MLAs and councillors, held protests in slum settlements across the capital against AAP govt over problems faced by people living in these areas. In a statement, the party said the protests were held at 968 small and large slum clusters in Delhi to highlight the local issues arising from the "negligence" of AAP govt. Residents of these slums participated in the demonstrations along with BJP workers, it added.
Addressing the participants in the protest held at Govindpuri slum of Kalkaji Assembly constituency, South Delhi MP Ramvir Singh Bidhuri alleged that due to the "corruption" of Kejriwal govt, the condition of slum areas had deteriorated. "There are no proper roads, sanitation, or drinking water facilities. Residents of these slums are deprived of basic amenities. Once BJP forms govt, it will work to fulfil the aspirations of slum residents," he said.
Delhi BJP has engaged residents of slum areas through a comprehensive reach-out campaign ahead of the polls.
Delhi BJP general secretary Vishnu Mittal said senior party leaders would stay in slum clusters on Dec 15 night to interact with people regarding the issues they were facing. North West Delhi MP Yogender Chandolia, who led the protest in the JJ Colony at Bawana, claimed that the poor condition of toilets and drains and electricity bills forced slum residents to live in deplorable conditions and AAP govt was responsible for this.
Kamaljeet Sehrawat, West Delhi MP, addressed protesters at Goyla Dairy slum. He alleged that for the past 10 years, AAP govt had treated slum residents as a vote bank and. as a result, the people were living in "subhuman condition today". Other BJP MPs, senior functionaries such as Parvesh Verma and Ramesh Bidhuri, Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta, MLAs Abhay Verma, OP Sharma and Jitendra Mahajan, and former Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay also participated in protests in various assembly constituencies.
Reacting to BJP's protests, AAP said, ""BJP's double standards are evident. They pose for photographs with slum dwellers, eat meals in their homes, and then conspire to demolish those very slums, cutting off their votes in the process." The party added: "The same BJP leaders protesting today have spent the past year snatching away the rights of slum dwellers and making them homeless. Even now, BJP-controlled agencies remain relentless in demolishing ‘jhuggis' (slums)," said the party. "Only Arvind Kejriwal stands for all Delhiites. He gave up his prestigious IRS career to live in Delhi's ‘jhuggis' and understand their struggles firsthand. Since 2015, his government has delivered real change," said the party.