On a day Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi praised Delhi Government for ‘unprecedented’ development in the Capital, the Delhi BJP took to the slums to tear into the claims of the Congress.
The BJP alleged that the Government failed miserably in providing housing to thousands of slums dwellers and that they were even denied basic amenities. The BJP leaders led by its chief ministerial candidate Dr Harsh Vardhan visited slums located in the neighbourhood of the official residence of Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi.
Vardhan spent over two hours with slum dwellers. “Even after 67 years of Independence, scores of people in the neighbourhood of the residences of the Prime Minister and Rahul Gandhi are living in hellish condition. Neither the Prime Minister nor
Rahul Gandhi tried to improve the condition of the poor. It is surprising that Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, who makes tall claims about the development of Delhi, has not provided basic amenities like water, toilets, roads, cheap rations, health, and education to the JJ dwellers in her own Assembly constituency,” Harsh Vardhan said, after visiting Bhaiya Ram camp and JJ clusters near Tughlak lane.
He alleged that there were only four-five toilets for a population of 4,000. He, however, promised that the BJP would ensure proper accommodation to slum dwellers and other basic facilities like drinking water, electricity, sanitation and public toilets, if the BJP was voted to power.
Taking a jibe at Congress for its ‘concern’ for the poor, the BJP leader said it was appalling that nearly 1,000 people were forced to live in penury behind the official residence of Rahul Gandhi, who spared no effort in praising the Delhi Government for its purported development work.
“The venues of Rahul Gandhi’s rallies are deliberately fixed in dalit colonies with the sole objective of securing votes. But the reality is that none of the Congress leaders has made any effort to improve the condition of the poor,” Vardhan alleged.
“When the condition of the people living in jhuggis in New Delhi areas is such, one can easily fathom what the condition of the poor living in remote areas of the Capital must be like. The Central and Delhi Governments are implementing about 100 schemes in the name of the poor. Hundreds of crores are being spent on these projects but reality is that thousands of slum dwellers are living a life of abject misery,” he said.