New Delhi:
AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal today said that he will not contest the upcoming Assembly elections in Delhi if Home Minister Amit Shah withdraws all cases related to Delhi slum demolitions and rehabilitates every evicted person.
“Withdraw all the cases you have filed against the people of slums, and submit an affidavit in court that you will give houses to all those people on the same land from which they were evicted. I will not contest the elections. I challenge you to accept it. Otherwise, Kejriwal will not go anywhere,” the former Delhi chief minister said today.
Mr Kejriwal today alleged that the BJP intends to demolish slums in Delhi if it wins the elections. Responding to his allegations, Union Minister and BJP leader Hardeep Singh Puri dismissed the claims and accused the AAP government of non-cooperation.
“They want your votes first and your land after the elections,” Mr Kejriwal said at Shakur Basti, describing the BJP’s ‘Jahan Jhuggi Wahan Makaan’ scheme as a “complete eyewash.”
Mr Kejriwal claimed that only 4,700 flats for slum dwellers had been constructed by the BJP-led central government in the past five years, leaving the city’s 4 lakh slum households in the lurch. “At this pace, it will take 1,000 years to provide housing for all,” he claimed.
The former Delhi Chief Minister claimed the Delhi Lt Governor had changed the land use of slum areas on December 27, paving the way for their demolition immediately after the elections. He alleged that the Railways had already tendered land occupied by slums on September 30.
Union Minister Puri dismissed Mr Kejriwal’s allegations as baseless and countered with accusations of his own. He claimed that the AAP government in Delhi had deliberately delayed central government schemes like the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) and other slum rehabilitation projects. “Since 2006, it has been the state government’s duty to regulate unauthorised colonies, but the AAP government did not cooperate,” Mr Puri said.
Mr Puri accused Mr Kejriwal of using misleading claims to divert attention from AAP’s own governance failures. “In 2017, I sent a letter urging the Delhi government to implement slum rehabilitation projects. Instead, they insisted on conducting a survey first,” he said. Mr Puri further claimed that senior AAP leaders had shown interest in land acquisition without supporting housing projects for slum dwellers.
“A Central Vigilance report revealed that toilets were being counted as classrooms under AAP’s education initiatives,” Mr Puri alleged. He claimed that while AAP promised to build 20,000 classrooms, only 4,260 were constructed, with funds allegedly misused. Mr Puri also alleged a shortage of 6,000 teachers, which he said contradicted the government’s promise of world-class education.
The AAP is aiming to secure a third consecutive term in Delhi. The party, which won 62 of 70 seats in 2020, is seeking to consolidate its voter base among marginalised communities, including slum dwellers.
During his address today, Mr Kejriwal reiterated his 2015 intervention to prevent slum demolitions. Accompanied by Satyendar Jain, AAP’s candidate from Shakur Basti, Mr Kejriwal appealed to voters to reject BJP’s alleged “traitorous” policies.