Visit slums, spend a night: Ahead of Delhi polls, BJP ropes in MPs & MLAs for key outreach event

The enactment was portion of the party’s cardinal campaign, ‘Ratri Pravas Samvad Abhiyaan’,  up of adjacent year’s Delhi Assembly polls. Launched connected Tuesday, respective BJP MPs, MLAs, and elder leaders visited assorted slums — a cardinal battleground betwixt the AAP and BJP — crossed the Capital to interact with residents and walk a nighttime successful their homes.

Back astatine Ravidas Camp, Swaraj addressed the crowd. “I was eagerly looking guardant to gathering each of you,” she said. “This campy holds a peculiar spot successful my heart, arsenic it played a pivotal relation successful my predetermination victory. I privation to guarantee each 1 of you that I volition ne'er fto you down…”

Referring to Bhagwan Ravidas, aft whom the slum has been named, she recounted a communicative from her childhood. “I retrieve my parent telling maine a communicative astir a Yagya being held successful Kashi… The large saints performing the Yagya took an earthen pot, poured h2o into it, and declared that erstwhile the astir pious idiosyncratic touched it, the h2o would crook pure. Our saint, Bhagwan Ravidas, was contiguous there. As soon arsenic helium placed his hands connected the pot, the h2o transformed into Ganga Jal,” she said.

Urging residents to ballot for the BJP’s candidate, she continued, “Today, aft visiting you all, my actions person besides turned into Ganga Jal. In the upcoming Assembly polls, I privation to archer you that immoderate enactment I purpose to bash for you… volition lone win if you elite a BJP MLA.”

Vijay, a resident, was not impressed. “There is lone (Arvind) Kejriwal here,” helium said, lone to beryllium countered by different nonmigratory who said helium would ever enactment the BJP. Shanti Devi appeared disillusioned by some parties. Sitting connected a pavement, she said: “Elections are the lone clip politicians retrieve us… erstwhile the votes are cast, we’re backmost to struggling connected our own.”

Swaraj past visited a fewer houses, walking done winding lanes, wherever residents offered her beverage and snacks. “Har ghar mai chai pe charcha karwa rahe ho aap,” she said. Swaraj past ate a repast of aloo sabzi, paneer, rotis and atom astatine a BJP worker’s location — a tiny abstraction with 2 azygous beds and a kitchen  — wherever she was to walk the nighttime with his family.

The campaign, meanwhile, drew crisp disapproval from AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal. During a code astatine the party’s 12th instauration time celebrations, helium said: “On Tuesday evening, immoderate BJP leaders are going to enactment successful slums, conscionable similar radical instrumentality a time disconnected to sojourn Goa for leisure. Someone was calling it ‘Jhuggi-Tourism’. Spending 1 nighttime with the mediocre is mocking their poverty.”

Hitting back, Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva said, “For the past 5 months, our workers person been visiting these slums and spending clip with residents… but successful the past 10 years, AAP has not done immoderate enactment for them. From flowing sewers and soiled water, their surviving conditions are not good. Today you are going to the slums successful vexation aft seeing our visit.”

He was referring to a sojourn by AAP MLAs to jhuggis Tuesday.

Sachdeva excessively visited Nehru Camp successful Vinod Nagar wherever residents, dressed successful vibrant yellow, gathered to execute a puja nether a ample puja pandal. He past visited the area’s BJP worker’s house, a azygous country with a treble furniture and a kitchen, wherever helium ate meal and settled down for the night.

Residents of Vinod Nagar jhuggi, meanwhile, said determination is nary 1 enactment they ballot for. “… determination is inactive for the elections truthful determination is plentifulness of clip for the radical to alteration their mind,” said a resident.