After slums, BJP plans outreach for villages, unauthorised colonies in Delhi

BJP’s Delhi chief Adesh Gupta said the party plans to tell people about the failures of the AAP-led Delhi government and also about the various people-centric schemes introduced by the Central government.

After its 45-day-long outreach campaign in Delhi’s slum clusters, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Delhi unit is planning a similar campaign in rural villages and unauthorised colonies, considered the ruling Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) strongholds. The campaign, planned as part of the party’s preparations for the upcoming municipal elections, will start from mid-December, said Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta.

Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta said the party also plans to hold meetings in unauthorised colonies, again an AAP stronghold, to highlight issues related to lack of development. (PTI File)

Gupta said, “There are so many issues concerning villages, especially in rural areas, and unauthorised colonies, which the Delhi government has not resolved despite being in power for nearly seven years.”

He said that the party plans to tell people about the failures of the AAP-led Delhi government and also about the various people-centric schemes introduced by the central government.

“In rural areas, villagers are unable to get mutation done (a process to transfer property titles). While Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal says that he supports the farmers, his government doesn’t give any subsidy to farmers in Delhi for purchase of tractors, fertilisers, etc,” said Gupta.

Gupta said that there are issues related to higher education, road and transport connectivity in the Capital’s rural areas. “There are not many colleges in rural areas. The road connectivity is really bad. What has the government done in the past few years?”

The BJP also plans to hold meetings in unauthorised colonies, again an AAP stronghold, to highlight issues related to lack of development. Gupta said, “Unauthorised colonies are lying in a state of neglect and don’t have basic infrastructure. The government has all the money and still it is not able to do any work in these areas.”

The party is also trying to make a dent in the AAP’s strong support base in assembly constituencies reserved for scheduled castes.

The BJP, which is hoping for a fourth term in the municipal corporations, has started its poll preparations. The party recently concluded its slum outreach programme, which was attended by BJP president JP Nadda. Gupta said that the party has got a good response from slum clusters, which had voted in large numbers for the AAP in the assembly elections in 2020.

Gupta said that the lakhs of people living in the city’s slum clusters, unauthorised colonies, and other areas, have been deprived of Central government schemes such as Ayushman Bharat because of the Delhi government. “It is important to tell people about the various schemes started by the Centre for poor people and how they have been deprived of it. We are in the process of preparing a detailed plan for the campaign and will start it after December 15,” he said.