Slum dwellers will rid Delhi of 'Aapda' govt, says Amit Shah in fresh attack on Kejriwal

Slum dwellers will become “liberators” of Delhi by uprooting the “Aapda” (AAP) government in the upcoming Assembly polls, said Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday (January 11), assuring that no welfare schemes for the poor will be stopped if his party forms government in the city.

Addressing the ‘Jhuggi Basti Pradhan Sammelan’ at the JLN stadium in Delhi, Shah promised that every slum dweller will be provided a house if the BJP wins the polls.

He greeted the gathering on the first anniversary of the consecration ceremony of Ram Lalla's idol at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya with a loud chant of “Jai Shri Ram”.

Also read: ‘Rs 2026 crore loss’: CAG report jolts AAP ahead of polls; exposes Kejriwal, says BJP

Slams Kejriwal

“When we talked of Ram Temple, Kejriwal said toilets need to be constructed, when Article 370 was scraped, he said people need houses. Modiji gave toilets as well as houses to the poor people, not Kejriwal,” Shah said.

Shah charged that the AAP has proved to be an “Aapda” (disaster) in its 10 years of rule in Delhi. He slammed AAP supremo and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for allegedly betraying the slum dwellers and forcing them to live in pathetic conditions in slums.

“The slum dwellers will become the liberators of Delhi and will uproot the Aapda government,” Shah said, citing the shortage of drinking water and sewers, and heaps of garbage in the slum clusters of the city.

The senior BJP leader lashed out at Kejriwal over his claim, earlier in the day, that the BJP had finalised its leader Ramesh Bidhuri as the chief ministerial face of the party for the Delhi polls. “Can Kejriwal decide the BJP's chief ministerial face?” he said, adding that the AAP supremo's “manipulations” were understood by Delhi people.

Takes ‘Sheesh Mahal’ jibe

“Lies, betrayal and going back on promises” are the qualities of Kejriwal, Shah said, accusing the AAP leader of building a “Sheesh Mahal” instead of toilets in Delhi's slum clusters.

Shah promised that solutions to all the problems and issues faced by the slum dwellers in Delhi will be mentioned in BJP's manifesto. “The BJP will ensure pucca houses for every slum dweller,” he said.

“I want to reiterate what Prime Minister Narendra Modi said earlier that no welfare schemes for the poor will be stopped,” he said, accusing Kejriwal of spreading “lies” that the BJP will demolish the city's slums of it came to power.

Also read: Delhi polls: BJP launches song and poster on 'Sheesh Mahal' to attack Kejriwal

‘Kejriwal did nothing’

While the prime minister gave the poor houses, ration, cheap medicines, loans, and cooking gas, Kejriwal did nothing for them in Delhi, he said.

Shah said the slum dwellers of Delhi will give a befitting reply to the AAP and Kejriwal on February 5 for cheating them, failing to clean the Yamuna river and committing the “sin” of building a “Sheesh Mahal”.

The BJP has been using the “Sheesh Mahal” moniker to attack Kejriwal, alleging that he indulged in corruption and had a lavish lifestyle while living in the 6, Flagstaff Road bungalow as the chief minister of Delhi before his resignation in September last year.

(With agency inputs)