AAP synonymous with corruption, says Nadda at BJP rally

Addressing a mega organisation meet at central Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan, BJP chief JP Nadda said the party will trounce the AAP in both municipal as well as assembly elections, setting the tone for the civic elections in Delhi that are likely to be held in December.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president JP Nadda on Sunday said that the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi has become synonymous with scams, and asked the party workers to expose its failures and scams before the people.

BJP president JP Nadda addresses the ‘Panch Parmeshwar Sammelan’ rally at the Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi, on Sunday. (Arvind Yadav/HT Photo)

Addressing a mega organisation meet at central Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan, Nadda said the BJP will trounce the AAP in both municipal as well as assembly elections, setting the party’s tone for the civic elections in Delhi that are likely to be held in December. Nadda also released a pamphlet about the central government’s Delhi-specific schemes and initiatives, and the work done by the BJP in the municipal corporations during their 15-year term.

“Kejriwal government has been involved in scams after scams. It has become a government of scams…They (AAP) were supposed to bring Lokpal, but are doing scams after scams. Congress was known for taking commissions, but Kejriwal has broken their record,” Nadda said at the party’s ‘panch-parmeshwar sammelan’.

“Those who promised to provide a clean government are today shuttling between jail and bail. This is their level of honesty. They wanted to bring in Lokpal Bill, sat on hunger strike, made lofty statements of giving a healthy administration. They are now even embarrassing those who had an unhealthy government,” he added.

The BJP president also slammed the AAP over its liquor policy in which the Delhi LG has ordered a CBI probe. “Kejriwal used to say that he will stop the sale of liquor, as it is a very bad thing; reduce the number of shops. But after coming to power, they prepared the excise policy and delivered liquor in each residential colony. They increased the commission of liquor companies from 2% to 12% and go 6% kickback…Should such people continue in power?” Nadda said amid loud cheers from the party workers.

Preparing for the municipal elections in Delhi, the BJP has been carrying out enrolment drives for booth-level workers and appointing a team of five people (Panch Parmeshwar), which includes booth president, booth level officer for election related work, a woman worker, a youth worker and an experienced party worker. Civic elections were abruptly postponed in March after the Centre announced that it was planning to merge the three civic bodies in Delhi. The three bodies were unified in May after the Parliament amended the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act. The AAP has been challenging the BJP to hold the elections soon, saying that it deliberately delayed the polls as it knew that it would lose.

According to BJP leaders nearly 100,000 party workers and supporters attended the meeting at the historic ground. Union minister of state Meenakshi Lekhi and other Delhi MPs, national general secretary Dushyant Gautam, former MP Vijay Goel, Delhi BJP MLAs and other senior party leaders were also present at the meeting.

The AAP, in its response, said that the BJP chief had no achievement of the MCD to share during his speech, and sought a report card of the party’s performance during its three consecutive terms in the municipal corporations in the capital.

Reacting to Nadda’s comment that Congress was known for taking commission, Delhi Congress chief Anil Kumar said, “Nadda ji should first look at his party which has turned the MCD into the most corrupt department in Delhi in the past 15 years. They have destroyed the municipal corporation.”

Listing Centre’s welfare schemes such as Gareeb Kalyan Anna Yojana, Ujala Yojana, Ujjwala Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Nadda said the AAP has failed to deliver on its promises such as to improve public transport and better healthcare. He said the Delhi government has deprived people of the benefits of the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat scheme.

Taking a dig at the Delhi government’s education model, Nadda said that 745 government schools don’t have principals and 70% of the schools don’t have science and commerce streams. “They say we will help children of poor families become doctors. But 70% of schools don’t have science stream. To lie and mislead people by presenting wrong figures has become the AAP’s nature,” said Nadda.

Exhorting party workers to go door-to-door to expose AAP’s claims, Nadda said, “The BJP will trounce the AAP in the MCD polls and thereafter, in the assembly election. Go door to door and tell the people of Delhi about the AAP’s corruption.”

He said that the BJP under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership has worked for the people, and even during Covid-19, party workers were out on the streets helping people when other political parties were visible only on social media. He said that the Modi government has also helped other countries with vaccines during the Covid pandemic.

Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta said Sunday’s meeting is the beginning to end the Kejriwal government’s false and propaganda campaign. “We will go door-to-door to tell people how the Kejriwal government has not provided essential infrastructure,” he said.

In the pamphlet, the BJP has mentioned the efforts by the party-ruled corporations to streamline solid waste management and reduce the legacy waste at landfill sites, improve health facilities, etc. The decision to give ownership to residents of 1731 unauthorised colonies, construction of highways were also mentioned in the pamphlet.

The BJP is gearing up to win a fourth term in the MCD, which it has ruled for 15 years. Nadda said that trifurcation has made the MCD financially weak, but it is the BJP with took the decision to strengthen it by unifying the three corporations.

Delhi BJP MPs Harsh Vardhan, Manoj Tiwari, Parvesh Verma, Ramesh Bidhuri and Gautam Gambhir also addressed party workers as asked them to work to ensure party’s victory in the municipal polls. West Delhi MP Verma, who was recently in news for his controversial statement over financial boycott of the Muslim community, said, “It is because of you (party workers) we have been winning elections. BJP won all the seven seats in Lok Sabha elections. Now you have to ensure that we will all the seats in MCD elections under the leadership of Adesh Gupta.”