BJP Leaders LK Advani, Rajnath Singh, VIjay Kumar Malhotra, Vijay Goel, Harsh Vardhan and Gopinath Munde during a rally in support of unauthorised aolonies at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi on Sunday

Though informally, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday sounded the bugle for the upcoming Assembly elections in Delhi.

At a massive rally held at the historic Ramlila Maidan under the aegis of the Unauthorised Colonies Mahasangh -- an organisation headed by former Union Minister Vijay Goel -- Leader of Opposition LK Advani said, "The BJP proposes real development for Delhi, based on the Gujarat model, rather than dangling carrots ahead of the elections." He said that when the BJP comes to power, it would ensure proper housing and other basic facilities for those living in slums and unauthorised colonies.

"Post-Independence, successive Governments ignored villages and people had to migrate to cities. Though these people got odd jobs, they could not get a roof over their heads. It led to the creation of slums and unauthorised colonies," said Advani. He said that after Independence, the country had witnessed "apna raj but not achcha raj (self-rule but not good rule)". He praised Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for his pledge to remove all slums in his State. "Today, under Modi, Gujarat is the most progressive State. He is building homes at places where these slums existed. I have personally seen and inaugurated many of them," he added.

The BJP's prime ministerial candidate also mentioned the steps being taken by the BJP and NDA-ruled States in sending relief to the flood-affected Bihar. "I have asked the Chief Ministers of all the BJP and NDA-ruled States, especially those in coastal areas, to extend all possible support to Bihar. I have also asked Orissa and Karnataka to send boats to the flood-hit State for rescuing marooned people," he said.

Addressing the rally, swarming with men, women and even children from across the Capital, BJP national president Rajnath Singh promised that all unauthorised colonies would be regularised in the BJP's regime. "I promise that if we come to power, these colonies will be regularised," he said, drawing an enthusiastic response from the crowd. Singh said the Congress Government's recent offer to issue provisional regularisation certificates was just a "poll gimmick aimed at fooling the masses".

"The Assembly polls are only two months away and the Congress is now promising issuance of provisional
certificates for regularisation. It says these colonies will be permanently regularised a year later. This is nothing but a false promise. Where were these leaders for the last 10 years?" he added.

Party general secretary and rally organiser Vijay Goel, visibly pleased with the mammoth turnout, said the people should teach a lesson to the Sheila Dikshit-led Government which made no effort to regularise these colonies and slums. "There is no drainage system, the roads are damaged and the Government has been spending crores on hare-brained ideas like the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system," he said.

Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, who is a party MP from Punjab, Delhi BJP president Harsh Vardhan, Delhi Mayor Arti Mehra, senior BJP leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra and party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad were also present on the dais. Sidhu had the public in splits with his witty remarks and one-liners. "Dalalon ki dalali par khadi hai ye sarkar (This Government is running on the money of the middlemen)," he said, in an obvious reference to the cash-for-vote scam which surfaced in Parliament during the trust vote. Counting the achievements of the BJP in Delhi, Vardhan said the Congress Government needed to be uprooted from the Capital and the Centre for better administration and growth.

Courtesy - The Pioneer