Union Home Minister Amit Shah adressing a Jan Sabha in support of party candidate at Rohini, in New Delhi on January 30, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma
Senior BJP leaders on Thursday (January 30, 2025) hit out at the Aam Aadmi Party over issues of pollution in the Yamuna River and corruption and scams in the capital, urging the people of Delhi to vote out the AAP in the Assembly polls.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah alleged that AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal allowed the Yamuna river to get polluted and forced the people of Delhi to drink its water.
When people asked what happened to fulfilling his promise of making the Yamuna clean like the Thames in London, Mr. Kejriwal was making an “excuse” by falsely accusing the BJP government in Haryana of mixing poison in the river, Mr. Shah charged, while addressing a public meeting in the Rohini constituency.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the AAP came to power on the issue of Jan Lokpal but today their government was collapsing amid corruption. None had been spared by the AAP; they had deceived everyone. Mr. Kejriwal, who entered politics by saying that large houses should not be built for Ministers, had built a palatial mansion for himself.
Mr. Singh said the AAP government had neither solved the water crisis nor made any arrangements, and a single rainfall turns Delhi into a lake. Mr. Kejriwal even mocked the very Constitution that had kept our nation united after Independence, he said.
‘Petty politics’
Mr. Shah termed Mr. Kejriwal’s accusation against the Haryana government “petty politics” and alleged that the AAP government could not fulfil its promise of cleaning the Yamuna during its 10-year rule due to “corruption”.
“Mr. Kejriwal says people from the BJP have mixed poison in the Yamuna to trouble the people of Delhi. I have come to tell the AAP chief that he should stop telling lies to win the election,” Mr. Shah told the gathering.
Also Read | Haryana registers case against Kejriwal over claims of ‘poisoned’ water
“Mr. Kejriwal, you polluted Yamuna and forced the people of Delhi to drink its water. And you offered all the money meant to be used in the cleaning of the river to the AAP’s corruption,” the Home Minister charged.
Mr. Shah alleged that Mr. Kejriwal was resorting to such “petty politics” after sensing his party’s defeat in the coming Assembly polls. “They keep making excuses… Kejriwal ji, leave (Delhi for the BJP) if you cannot do anything. We will show how Delhi can be better governed,” he said.
Mr. Singh said: “The BJP is a party that says what it does, and does what it says. If you can give one example where we didn’t fulfill our promises, I will personally apologise. Looking at our manifestos from 2014 to 2024, you will realise that we have delivered on the promises made. If we say something and do it, you should vote for us. After the Congress’s exit, hundreds of political parties emerged, but none were able to form a government at the Centre. If anyone did, it was for only 6 months or even less. The support BJP is receiving in the last three elections is the result of development and welfare schemes”.
Mr. Shah and BJP president J.P. Nadda took potshots at Mr. Kejriwal and said the AAP used to call itself ‘Kattar Imaandar’ but turned out to be ‘Kattar Beimaan,’ with their Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister, Minister, and 5 MLAs all going to jail.
Mr. Nadda said AAP leaders Manish Sisodia, Mr. Kejriwal, Satyender Jain, Naresh Yadav, Amanatullah Khan, Durgesh Pathak and Sanjay Singh had all been in jail, and they were so shameless that they celebrate after being released. But they should know that they had only come out on bail, and jail was where they truly belonged. They would end up back in jail in the future. Mr. Kejriwal once visited Ghazipur and shouted about the garbage heap there, but now he had turned all of Delhi into the same. Garbage was scattered all across Delhi.
Mr. Nadda said Mr. Kejriwal’s claim that poison was being mixed in the water from Haryana was an extremely irresponsible and shameful statement. Such leaders had no place in politics. He was trying to incite animosity between two States, which was an anti-national act and aligned with the agenda of Soros, the BJP chief said, calling the AAP urban Naxals attempting to weaken the nation and create panic.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to address a poll rally in Dwarka on January 31, where the BJP’s allies are expected to be present.
Published – January 30, 2025 08:27 pm IST