AAP's Saurabh Bharadwaj slams BJP over unfulfilled promise of permanent housing to poor

New Delhi [India], January 3 : Ahead of the upcoming 2025 Delhi assembly elections, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Saurabh Bharadwaj on Friday lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), saying that they had promised that everyone in the country will have a permanent house by 2022 and the deadline has passed.
The BJP had said they would provide 2.5 crore people with permanent houses by 2020, but in 2025 they are just giving away 1,675 flats, he said, adding that this was humiliating the poor.
"BJP had promised that everyone in the country will have a permanent house by 2022. We are three years past the deadline. I can't talk about the entire country, but let us talk about Delhi. Has the PM given people permanent housing here? They had talked about giving 2.5 crore people permanent houses in Delhi by 2022. Now in 2025, they are giving away just 1,675 flats. This is a humiliation for the poor," Bharadwaj told ANI.
He further said that lakhs of poor people from the slums have been displaced by the central government's Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and Railways, who have been sleeping under flyovers.
"I can challenge this. The central government's DDA, Railways, etc. have displaced lakhs of poor people (from slums) and they are now sleeping under flyovers, in night shelters. I want the central government to give assurance that they will take action against the officials who have done this. We would like to what action is taken against them," the AAP leader said.
Speaking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi laying the foundation stone for a Delhi University college named after Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar, Bharadwaj said that they are just laying the foundation stone, they should have built and inaugurated the college.
"He is just laying the foundation of the college right now. Let us see how long it takes to complete and the government in power at that time. We will see after whom the college is named when it gets completed..." he added.
Earlier, PM Modi attacked AAP, saying, "Those who have been in power in Delhi for the last 10 years - have damaged school education".
Addressing a public meeting in Ashok Vihar's Ramlila Ground, PM Narendra Modi said, "A new college in the name of Veer Savarkar is going to be built in Najafgarh... Those who have been in power in Delhi for the last 10 years - have damaged school education. The money that the central government has given to Delhi - the current govt of Delhi hasn't even spent half of that money in education..."
"...Even after Independence, such works (New Education Policy) were not done, 'lekin aapke sevak ne kar diya'...," PM Modi said.
PM Modi also attacked AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal and said, "In the last 10 years, Delhi has been surrounded by an 'Aapda'. By keeping Anna Hazare at the front, a few 'kattar beimaan' people have pushed Delhi towards 'Aapda'. 'AAP aapda bankar Delhi par toot padi hai'..."