New Delhi, Dec 15 (IANS): Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee President Devender Yadav said on Sunday that the AAP government and the BJP, who had both ignored slum dwellers over the past 10 years, were making false promises to them with the intent of winning their votes.
He said that residents of Jhuggi Jhopri (JJ) Clusters had resolved during the party’s month-long Delhi Nyay Yatra that they would not vote for these parties but only for Congress in the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections.
They have realised that Congress always protects their interests and welfare, said the Delhi Congress chief.
He said that former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who promised “free” power and water to the poor, fleeced them by charging inflated power and water charges, and yet he was giving them false assurances on his way out.
Yadav said that it was the Congress government which implemented a policy to settle slum dwellers by giving them plots, and later formulated and implemented an in-situ flat construction policy to relocate slum dwellers with better living standards.
He said ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections, Kejriwal and the BJP were making false promises to the slum dwellers again.
He said that Kejriwal, who promised free water to residents of JJ Clusters, not only failed to honour his promise, but also put them at the mercy of the tanker mafia who fleeced the poor people and made them buy bottled water for consumption.
The tanker mafia has remained active in Delhi as the job of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) was taken over by them to exploit slum dwellers.
He said jhuggi dwellers were being issued inflated water bills running into thousands.
“In one case, a bill of over Rs 8,000 was issued to the owner of a one-room slum,” he said.
Yadav said that Kejriwal kept quiet when the JJ clusters near the Yamuna got flooded during the monsoon as the drains were not desilted by the AAP government for the past many years.
The uprooted slum dwellers were neither given any compensation nor helped in rebuilding their homes, he said.