New Delhi:
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today visited an area in northwest Delhi to highlight the filth-covered underbelly of the national capital while also exposing fissures in the opposition alliance INDIA, which was formed as a united front to fight against the BJP.
“See, this is Delhi, this is shining Delhi,” the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha was heard saying in a video as he walked past an overflowing drain in Rithala.
He looked at the sewage water and the garbage-covered dirt track he was walking on and remarked, ” Paris jaisi Dilli. Sab jagah yahi haal hai (Delhi which is like Paris. This is the situation everywhere).”
And, Rahul Gandhi’s caption for the video on X – “This is (Arvind) Kejriwal’s ‘shining’ Delhi – Paris wali Delhi (Paris-like Delhi)”.
ये है केजरीवाल जी की ‘चमकती’ दिल्ली – पेरिस वाली दिल्ली!#SaafKaroDilli pic.twitter.com/ycSxZa4hUt
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) January 14, 2025
“Arvind Kejriwal had promised to make Delhi shine like Paris. But, all his claims turned out to be hollow. Today, the people of Delhi are forced to live in clogged sewers, overflowing drains and immense filth,” the Congress posted on X.
Mr Gandhi’s remark was a swipe at Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal who, in 2019, had pledged to transform Delhi into a city as clean as “Tokyo, London and Paris” if he was re-elected. He was re-elected, clearing his way for a second stint as the Delhi Chief Minister.
Rahul Gandhi‘s dig was in continuation to his last evening’s tirade against Mr Kejriwal when he attacked him over “rising pollution and inflation” at his first public rally for the Delhi assembly election.
“Arvind Kejriwal had said he would clean Delhi, eliminate corruption, and make it Paris-like. But today, Delhi struggles with pollution, corruption, and rising inflation,” he said.
The former chief minister of Delhi responded soon after, accusing Mr Gandhi of abusing him. This morning, Mr Kejriwal accused the BJP and Congress of working in tandem and said the elections will expose this “jugalbandi”.
Civic issues, such as pollution, dilapidated roads and choked sewers, are being raised by the opposition to corner the ruling administration in the elections that will see the AAP, BJP and Congress in a three-pronged race to form the next government in Delhi.
The relations between the AAP and Congress, who fought the 2024 Lok Sabha elections under the opposition INDIA bloc, soured after they failed to enter into a pre-poll alliance for the Haryana Assembly polls last year. The BJP won that election.
In the 2020 assembly elections, the AAP won 62 of the 70 seats and BJP secured eight seats while Congress failed to open its account.
Even as the election results will decide the future of AAP on the national stage, especially in the INDIA bloc, the BJP is riding high on the Haryana and Maharashtra poll results, raising expectations of its supporters.
As far as the Congress is concerned, its campaign focuses on the achievements of its past government in the national capital led by Sheila Dikshit whose 15-year rule was ended by Arvind Kejriwal in 2013. He defeated the three-time chief minister in her constituency of New Delhi.
While escalating its attack on the ruling AAP government, the Congress today also tried to give a throwback of the development drive undertaken during the Sheila Dikshit-led Congress government
“Congress party’s promise is – we will return clean and beloved Delhi to the people of Delhi. We did it, we will do it again,” the party wrote in Hindi on X.
Polling for the 70-member Delhi Assembly will be held on February 5 and votes counted on February 8.
