Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday launched the third and final part of the BJP’s manifesto for the February 5 Delhi Assembly polls with key promises including granting ownership rights to people in refugee colonies in the city, welfare board for gig workers, 50,000 government jobs for youth of Delhi, a Sabarmati River-front type redevelopment of the Yamuna and reopening 13,000 sealed shops in the national capital.
He also reiterated that no scheme of public interest would be stopped if the BJP is voted to power after the Assembly elections.
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He said since 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has established the politics of performance in the country and the BJP has made serious efforts to fulfill the promises made in all the elections.
Addressing a press conference here while launching the final part of BJP’s Sankalp Patra for Delhi Assembly polls, the Home Minister accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of doing ”politics of lies and falsehood”.
“The biggest issue in the election is to get rid of those who lie. Despite refusing, they entered politics, took bungalows, and took security – that too of another state,” he said said.
“Kejriwal runs a government in Delhi that makes promises, doesn’t fulfil them, and then presents false faces to the public. In my political life, I have never seen anyone who lies so clearly,” Shah said.
The Union Home Minister hit out at Kejriwal for breaking his promise of not taking a government bungalow, highlighting that “over Rs 51 crores were spent to build a 50,000-square-foot ‘Sheesh Mahal.'”
“He (The AAP chief) has opened liquor shops near schools, temples, and gurudwaras and committed scams worth thousands of crores. The liquor scam was committed by Delhi’s former education minister. He (Kejriwal) had promised to clean the Yamuna River in seven years, making it as clean as London’s Thames River, and said he would take a dip in front of the people of Delhi. Kejriwal ji, the public is waiting for that famous dip of yours,” Shah said sarcastically.
“He (The AAP Chief) couldn’t even fulfil his promise of providing clean water through pipes. He talked about a corruption-free government, but Kejriwal himself, along with many of his ministers, went to jail over corruption cases. He only got bail, and using bail as a clean chit does not absolve him from the accusations,” he said.
“The most serious issue is the level of corruption in Delhi, which has never been as high as it is under Kejriwal. There have been scandals like the liquor scam, a 28,400 crore scam in the Delhi Jal Board, a 5,400 crore scam in ration distribution, a 1,300 crore scam in school classrooms, and a 571 crore scam in CCTV installation,” Shah said.
The saffron party in the final part of its manifesto has promised that it would provide 50,000 government jobs to the youth of Delhi without any corruption.
“And by creating 20 lakh self-employment opportunities, we will help the youth find employment. Through an investment of 20,000 crore, we will develop an integrated public transport network and convert 13,000 buses into electric buses, making Delhi a 100 per cent electric bus city under the BJP government,” Shah said.
He also underlined that to promote tourism, they will collaborate with the Uttar Pradesh and Haryana governments to create a Mahabharata corridor.
“We will develop the Yamuna Riverfront, similar to the Sabarmati Riverfront. I would like to invite Kejriwal to join us after three years of our government to take a dip in the Yamuna with his family. We will end manual scavenging 100 per cent and eliminate this inhumane practice completely,” he declared.
“Gig Workers Welfare Board will be formed, will provide life insurance up to Rs 10 lakh, accident insurance up to Rs 5 lakh and scholarship for the education of their children,” the BJP’s manifesto said.
“We will apply the same formula for textile workers. We will provide Rs 10,000 as assistance to workers, and for registered workers, we will offer loans up to 3 lakh to enhance skills and businesses,” Shah said.
The Union Home Minister further said, “Modi ji has announced the granting of ownership rights to more than 1,700 unauthorized colonies. Previously, these colonies did not have permission for construction, buying, or selling. Now, by granting them full ownership rights and aligning with the Ministry of Housing’s regulations and Delhi’s by-laws, we will give them the right to construct and sell.”
“13,000 shops in Delhi are sealed, and we have worked with lawyers to find a legal path to reopen them. We will create a judicial authority and reopen these shops within six months to resume operations. Refugee colonies that have been established since 1947, such as Rajendra Nagar, Lajpat Nagar, and Kingsway Camp, currently have people on lease; they cannot sell or buy the land. We will grant ownership rights to all these refugees who have land on lease in these colonies in the first Cabinet meeting,” Shah added.
