Delhi’s slum dwellers during the Slum Pradhan Sammelan, at JLN stadium in New Delhi on Saturday (January 11, 2025).
| Photo Credit: ANI/Video Grab
Addressing slum residents in his first rally in Delhi since the announcement of next month’s Assembly election, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday (January 11, 2025) reiterated that welfare schemes in the capital will not stop if the BJP comes to power. In fact, he promised that the BJP would better them, though he did not specify which schemes would be improved.
The ruling Aam Aadmi Party has been attacking the BJP, warning that if it comes to power, it will stop welfare schemes, including those providing free electricity and water in Delhi. However, Mr. Shah vowed: “No welfare schemes for the poor will be stopped if the BJP forms the government in the city.”
He also promised that if his party wins the election, every slum dweller will be provided a house under the PM Awas Yojana. “The residents of the capital’s slums will throw away the ‘AAP-Da’ (AAP government) and become liberators of Delhi,” the Minister predicted.
AAP convenor and former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal hit back, accusing Mr. Shah of abusing him and lying to slum dwellers. He promised to hold a press conference on Sunday (January 12, 2025) morning at a jhuggi (slum) that the BJP allegedly intends to demolish. “I will expose the dirty intentions of BJP with full evidence,” he said in a post on X.
‘Pathetic conditions’
Addressing the Jhuggi Basti Pradhan Sammelan held at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru stadium on Saturday (January 11, 2025), Mr. Shah claimed that, despite its tall promises of clean water, good education and a garbage-free-city, the AAP government has, in fact, forced slum dwellers to live in pathetic conditions, with dirty water, air pollution, broken roads, and garbage.
Congratulating the Delhi unit of the BJP for fighting against the AAP on behalf of the slum dwellers, Mr. Shah said, “Our leader spent several nights in the [jhuggi jhopri] JJ clusters, and made a list of all your trouble and submitted it to PM [Narendra] Modi. And keeping this in mind, we will bring our Sankalp Patra [poll manifesto], which the BJP will make sure is fulfilled because, unlike the AAP, all our promises are done.”
‘Delhi has become hell’
The AAP is doing the work of disaster, Mr. Shah said, claiming that while India has progressed over the last ten years, Delhi has stayed stagnant. Delhi has become hell because of ‘AAP-da’, he added.
“Lies, betrayal and going back on promises” are the qualities of Mr. Kejriwal, Mr. Shah said, accusing the AAP leader of building a ‘Sheesh Mahal (glass palace)’ instead of the toilets needed in Delhi’s slum clusters. While the Prime Minister gave the poor houses, ration, cheap medicines, loans, and cooking gas, Mr. Kejriwal has done nothing for them in Delhi, he said.
‘Bulldozer party’
Mr. Kejriwal accused the Union Minister of lying to slum residents. “Today, Amit Shah ji abused me and the people of Delhi a lot. The people of Delhi will answer this in the elections. Amit ji told a lot of lies to the ‘jhuggi’ dwellers. Tomorrow morning I will hold a press conference from a ‘jhuggi basti’ which they have planned to demolish after the elections. I will expose the dirty intentions of BJP with full evidence,” he said in a post on X.
Senior AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said that the BJP was the party that runs bulldozers over the homes, shelters, and hearts of the downtrodden, the party that has committed the most atrocities and earned the worst reputation in India since independence. “In Delhi, till 2023, they have run demolition drives 35 times, displacing the homes of the poor in Delhi. These are recorded figures from 2022 to 2023,” he said.
Mr. Singh added that Mr. Kejriwal has worked tirelessly for the downtrodden and jhuggi dwellers, providing free electricity, water, education, healthcare, mohalla clinics, and free bus travel for women. He stressed, “These initiatives have directly benefited the downtrodden.”
Highlighting the contrast between the BJP and the AAP, the senior AAP leader emphasised, “Our workers have faced lathis, been chased, and beaten by the police. Our MLAs laid in front of bulldozers. Show me one BJP leader who has done this—just one. The BJP is the one that demolishes jhuggis and ruins the downtrodden, they shouldn’t be allowed to even utter the word ‘jhuggi’ and ‘poor’.”
The election for the 70-member Delhi Assembly will be held on February 5, and the votes will be counted on February 8.
Published – January 11, 2025 11:03 pm IST