New Delhi, Nov 26 (PTI) In a bid to woo the slum dwellers in the upcoming assembly polls in Delhi, the leaders of ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the opposition BJP visited the jhuggi clusters on Tuesday.
Delhi BJP leaders including state president Virendra Sachdeva held interactions with slum dwellers across the city under ‘Jhuggi Ratri Pravas Abhiyan’ (Slum night stay campaign) at 250 places.
The AAP leaders including party supremo Arvind Kejriwal accused the BJP of “Jhuggi Tourism” alleged that the party ruling at the Centre had rendered thousands of people homeless by demolishing the slums in the capital city.
Sachdeva, who visited a slum in Vinod Nagar area of Patparganj constituency for the night stay, said the jhuggi clusters were considered political stronghold of AAP and its convener Kejriwal till a couple of years ago.
“However, in the 2022 MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) and 2024 Lok Sabha polls, AAP lost most in the the wards and assembly areas dominated by jhuggi residents. It was a big political setback to Kejriwal,” he claimed.
Sachdeva promised that if the BJP comes to power in Delhi after the assembly elections due in February, it will provide best civic amenities through city government agency Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB).
Senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia, accompanied by several party MLAs, met people near Sundar Nursery slum settlement in South Delhi which was demolished recently.
Sisodia attacked the BJP saying its leaders were visiting the slum dwellers to shed “crocodiles tears” and alleged that the party uprooted people living at the Sundar Nursery slum for several decades.
AAP leader and Delhi Urban Development Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged that the BJP “hated” slum dwellers. He charged that the agencies of the BJP-led Centre rendered homeless thousands of people by demolishing the slums in the city.
BJP national general secretary Dushyant Gautam went to a jhuggi cluster at Krishna Market in Jhilmil Colony while Union Minister of State Harsh Malhotra went to Kalandar Colony slum cluster settlements and jhuggi cluster Kalandar Colony in East Delhi.
BJP MPs and MLAs also attended night stay campaign in different parts of the city.
Leader of Opposition in Assembly Vijender Gupta went to Kheda Colony, Manoj Tiwari went to Indira Vikas Basti, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri went to Gola Kuan Camp, Yogendra Chandolia to Bawana Ward, Kamaljeet Sehrawat went to Goela Dairy Camp and Bansuri Swaraj went to Ravi Das Camp at RK Puram, said a Delhi BJP statement.
Union minister Harsh Malhotra said jhuggi dwellers in Delhi very well remember that during the Covid phase, only BJP workers stood by them at a time when the AAP MLAs were missing in the field. PTI VIT KSS KSS
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