BJP launches drive against AAP and Delhi’s bad roads

The Delhi-unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday launched a campaign to highlight the potholes on roads in the Capital by displaying cutouts of former chief minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal. The cutouts were placed on damaged parts of roads and had a message — “Congratulations Delhi! These are the potholes of the most corrupt government.”
Reacting to the campaign, the AAP said that the BJP did its best to halt Delhi’s progress by imprisoning Arvind Kejriwal in a false case but ever since his release all works are being done on a war footing across Delhi.
“We are exposing the lies of the Kejriwal government, which has displayed 10 years of incompetence and corruption on Delhi’s roads. We are exposing Chief Minister and her ministers, who are busy conducting media events while we show the reality,” said Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva.
The campaign comes in the wake of a road repair campaign launched by the Delhi government on Monday under which chief minister Atishi and cabinet ministers are inspecting arterial roads of Delhi along with PWD officials. The government has promised that the 1,400km road network would be repaired by PWD before the end of October. The BJP, on the other hand, has blamed the corruption in the government for the extremely poor state of the roads.
Sachdeva said that potholes have existed for 10 years, and alleged corruption in the road repair process. “MLAs demand commissions of up to 35% in the name of road construction. The entire stretch of the Old Delhi Station road, Church Mission Road, and Khari Baoli roads are broken. Chandni Chowk and Khari Baoli, being the hub of trade, leave a poor impression on visiting traders,” he added.
South Delhi MP Ramvir Singh Bidhuri took part in the protest in Palam ward. Bidhuri said that the poor condition of Delhi’s roads is not the result of one monsoon but 10 years of corruption in road maintenance. MP Yogendra Chandolia said the entire outer and rural areas of Delhi have been a victim of the government’s incompetence and corruption, leaving the areas in disrepair. Leader of the opposition in the assembly Vijender Gupta referred to the broken roads in Nangloi, Najafgarh road, and said: “The central government has developed many flyovers and highways in Delhi, but the AAP government has given the city broken and dilapidated roads.”
Reacting to the campaign, AAP in an official statement said: “The people of Delhi know that the BJP did its best to halt Delhi’s progress by imprisoning Arvind Kejriwal in a false case but ever since his release all works are being done on a war footing across Delhi. Kejriwal is personally inspecting road repair work on the ground to ensure its completion at the soonest. All ministers and MLAs are also on the ground closely monitoring the work. BJP should stop spreading misinformation and hatred now. They should focus on positive politics and let the Delhi government do its work.”