‘AAP a symbol of graft’: BJP ups Delhi civic poll ante
The BJP held 14 roadshows on Sunday ahead of the polls for the 280 wards of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on December 4
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took the MCD election battle to the streets of the Capital on Sunday, with its top leaders including JP Nadda and Rajnath Singh holding roadshows and alleging that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was a symbol of corruption in Delhi.
The BJP held 14 roadshows on Sunday ahead of the polls for the 280 wards of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on December 4. The results of the elections will be declared on December 7.
The people of Delhi are tired of the Arvind Kejriwal-led government and feel betrayed by it, Nadda, the BJP’s national president, alleged as he led a roadshow at Sangam Vihar. “The AAP has become an embodiment of misgovernance and is neck-deep in corruption,” he said.
Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Hardeep Singh Puri, Jitendra Singh and Meenakshi Lekhi also took part in “Vijay Sankalp” roadshows at different locations of the national capital.
Nadda asked people to vote for the BJP in the municipal polls to teach the “corrupt” AAP government a lesson. While kicking off the party’s campaign for the upcoming civic polls, he said the AAP government tried to stifle the functioning of the municipal corporation.
The horrific murder of Shraddha Walkar also found a mention in the BJP’s election campaign, as Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the country needed a Uniform Civil Code and a law against “love jihad”. “Love jihad” is a term often used by right-wing activists to describe relationships between Muslim men and Hindu women.
The BJP president held a roadshow in Sangam Vihar, an unauthorised colony that is surrounded by several slum clusters.
Speaking at the roadshow, Nadda said: “The Delhi government is drowning in corruption. It has harassed the people of Delhi by obstructing the development works of the MCD by stopping its funds due to political malice ... The only way to teach them a lesson is to ensure the BJP’s victory in the municipal elections.”
With the AAP has made sanitation the main issue in the civic polls, Nadda said that the Delhi government did not utilise ₹300 crore given by the Centre for sanitation purposes and stopped the salary of sanitation workers.
The BJP, which is targeting to win a fourth term in the municipal corporation, started a high-decibel election campaign with 14 roadshows by senior leaders, which also included Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, and chief ministers of four BJP-ruled states. Senior party leaders were accompanied by all seven Delhi MPs, Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta and MCD election in-charge Ashish Sood, among others.
Nadda said that the AAP used to say that they will not give tickets to criminals or corrupt people. “Three are in jail today and others are on bail. They are in jail because they are involved in riots, killed a police officer who was on duty… they are involved in big corruption cases,” said Nadda amid loud cheers from party workers.
Asking people to vote for the BJP, Nadda said that the AAP is a “two-faced party”, while referring to the recent video of Delhi minister Satyendar Jain in which he appears to be a getting a massage at the Tihar jail.
At the roadshow in North-East Delhi’s Bhajanpura in Ghonda assembly constituency, Assam chief minister Sarma spoke about the need for UCC and a law against “love jihad” while referring to the murder of Walkar.
“Our country doesn’t need Aaftab (Shraddha murder case accused) but a person like Lord Ram, a leader like PM Modi. We need Uniform Civil Code and law against ‘love jihad’. We need such laws where Aaftabs can be hanged to death,” said Sarma.
Senior BJP leaders hit out at Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal for his government’s alleged failure to improve the city’s infrastructure, clean the Yamuna, and address the air pollution problem despite having governments in Delhi and Punjab.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh, accompanied by West Delhi MP Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma, held a roadshow in Uttam Nagar, where he urged people to vote for BJP for comprehensive and “all-round” development.
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