New Delhi: Ahead of Assembly polls, Delhi Congress today hit out at the BJP, alleging the rival party's “new Gujarat model” was to “weaken and discredit Congress” and offer voters pre-poll sops like 24-hour electricity and jhuggi-jhopri in-situ rehabilitation.
Despite suffering reverses in the 2013 Delhi Assembly polls, Congress sought to credit itself as a “pro-people party” while discredited BJP as “anti-poor”.
“Today BJP is talking about 24-hour electricity and jhuggi-jhopri in-situ rehabilitation...But, let me tell you that that the whole exercise of the party is to weaken and discredit Congress ahead of the polls.
“This is their new Gujarat model,” Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) chief Arvinder Singh Lovely alleged at a press conference here, which was also attended by senior party leaders Haroon Yusuf and Subhash Chopra.
BJP had recently announced in-situ rehabilitation plans for over 600 JJ clusters, if voted to power.
“We want BJP to return Delhi as it was in November 2013.
This promise of 24-hour electricity and jhuggi-jhopdi rehabilitation plans are all an eyewash,” he said. Lovely also claimed that Congress was the first party to clear in-situ construction of flats in January 2013 in Kalkaji area.
“We had given sanction on January 10, 2013 when the then Kalakaji MLA Subhash Chopra was a member of the DDA, for the construction of a 140-storey building complex at Kalkaji Extension, in 36 months to resettle those living in over 8000 hutments at the JJ clusters at Nav Jeevan Camp, Bhoomihee Camp and Jawaharlal Camp,” he said.
He further claimed that demolition action was currently taking place in the national capital of such clusters in some areas.
Lovely even sought to credit Congress while discrediting the BJP and AAP, as far as people's issues were concerned.
“When JJ colonies are dismantled, BJP or AAP doesn't go there, Rahul Gandhi does. When communal tension grips Trilokpuri, PM Modi or Arvind Kejriwal don't visit the place, Rahul Gandhi does. People will therefore again repose faith in us,” he claimed.
On the impending Assembly polls likely to be held in February, he said, “So far, it has not been decided whether former Delhi MPs will enter the fray or not. Only the Congress Working Committee would take the final decision.”
In the last Assembly polls, held in December 2013, BJP had emerged as the single-largest party winning 31 seats followed by AAP with 28 seats. Congress finished a poor third, with a meagre 8 seats.
