One year of Rekha Gupta: No respite for Delhi despite triple-engine sarkar

It's been a year since Rekha Gupta took over as the Chief Minister of Delhi, and her party, the BJP, is busy glossing its report card. The administration came to power on February 20 last year, riding a wave of promises — a cleaner Yamuna, financial aid for women, better infrastructure.

While the official celebrations are being planned for the occasion, The Federal Desh took to the streets, the ghats, and the back and by-lanes of the national capital to find out what residents actually think about the government. From boatmen at Yamuna Bazar to traders in Rajendra Nagar, the picture that emerges is far more complicated than any government brochure would suggest.

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It appears that the national capital's crises persist despite being governed by a ‘triple-engine’ government, with the BJP/NDA running the Union government, the government of NCT of Delhi, and the municipal corporation.

Yamuna Bazar: The vanishing machines

Cleaning up the Yamuna was supposed to be this government's defining mission. Abhinandan, a boatman at the city's Yamuna Bazar Ghat area, was not impressed.

"When the government was first formed, a few weed-removing machines did show up," he told this website. "But they're gone now."

"From Wazirabad in north Delhi to ITO in central Delhi, the river's water is still black and foul-smelling. Drains continue to empty directly into the river. During Chhath, it looked like things might finally change. Now it's back to the same filth," he said.

Usha Devi has lived on these ghats for decades. Having seen governments come and go, she spoke on the issue, no holds barred. "Governments change," she told The Federal Desh. "The Yamuna's fate doesn't." The machines, according to her, were withdrawn within months of arrival.

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For Premavati, the frustration is more evident, as her family is struggling to get the benefits that were promised. No free gas cylinder has arrived. No financial assistance. She has even been stopped from running her small roadside stall. "Floods come every year. Leaders come too. But promises?" She shook her head. "Never."

Filth and the fear of disease

Amrika Yadav, who also lives by the river, doesn't expect freebies. But at least the promise to clean the river — that, he says, has also not been fulfilled.

Kishan, who has lived by the Yamuna since childhood, told The Federal Desh that he has never seen it this bad.

"The silt and debris left behind by last year's floods have still not been cleared. Stagnant water pools turn breeding grounds for mosquitoes and disease. The administration has simply remained silent despite people's complaints," he said.

Things looked marginally better at Sonia Vihar — the water cleaner, the river level higher. The government had promised a cruise on the Yamuna, and our team did find one. It was sitting under a cover, apparently waiting to be unveiled on Friday (February 20), the anniversary day.

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But the question remains: If the plan was always on to launch a cruise, why is the stretch between Okhla and Wazirabad still a mess? Beyond Wazirabad Barrage, the water is scarce and heavily polluted — a quiet rebuke to the government's more ambitious claims.

Rajendra Nagar: a divided verdict

In the upmarket Rajendra Nagar area, the mood is mixed. Resident Rajender Singh is flatly dissatisfied. A year on, he says, the roads are still broken and the drains unrepaired. Drinking water remains a daily ordeal.

Yagyapati Upadhyay pointed to another unfulfilled pledge — the promised monthly assistance of Rs 2,500 for women. "It exists only on paper," he told The Federal Desh.

The common complaint is that despite one party (BJP) being in power in Delhi, the city's municipal corporation, and the Centre, the basic infrastructure remains far from fixed.

Not everyone has given up, however. Residents such as Rishi and Soniya take a longer view — systems don't change overnight, and with four years still left, it's too early to write the government off. Paras Dua backed the government's intent, arguing that if the BJP fails to deliver, voters will make their feelings known come election time.

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For now, most of Delhi is simply watching and waiting — to see what the official report card on February 20 actually says, and whether it bears any resemblance to what they see around them.

Opposition sharpens its attack

Delhi Congress president Devendra Yadav was scathing. The government, he said, has failed on 12 fronts in 12 months, with pollution and the environment only getting worse. "The gap between what this government says and what it does is enormous."

Saurabh Bharadwaj, the Delhi unit convener of the Aam Aadmi Party, which lost power to the BJP in the last election, went further, directly targeting Chief Minister Gupta and calling the government's first year as one that spoke about complete failure.

(This article was originally published in The Federal Desh.)