New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Thursday attacked the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government, in a series of speeches in the national capital ahead of the assembly elections. Painting a contrast with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-governed UP, he alleged that AAP had allowed Bangladeshi and Rohingya “infiltrators” into Delhi, caused the 2020 riots and left the infrastructure in shambles.
The UP CM addressed his first rally in north-west Delhi’s Kirari, followed by Karol Bagh in central and Janakpuri in south-west Delhi.
At Kirari, Uttar Pradesh CM said the AAP government was helping “Bangladeshi and Rohingya infiltrators” settle in the Okhla area while “hindering industrial growth”.
In contrast, he said Uttar Pradesh’s “New Okhla region (Noida) is a prime example of development”.
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“You must have seen how people from Delhi are now shifting and living in Noida and Greater Noida. Zameen aasman ka difference hai (There’s a world of a difference),” he said, highlighting that a double-engine government—BJP at the Centre and in the state—has helped in carrying out development work.
“There has been zero investment in Delhi. They made no efforts to help the industries that were in bad shape and required help. They have only one industry—to settle Bangladeshi infiltrators in Okhla and other parts of Delhi and other important places,” he added.
He further alleged, “Aadhaar cards are distributed to Bangladeshi infiltrators through Aadhaar card-making machines at the houses of AAP leaders.”
Despite being the national capital, he said the situation of roads, water and infrastructure in Delhi outside of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) area was in shambles. The NDMC area comes under the governance of the Union government.
“A decade ago, people used to come here for better infrastructure, metro services, and cleanliness,” Yogi said, attacking the AAP government which has been in power since 2013. “But now, what has this government turned it into? The roads are filled with potholes, and in some places, it’s hard to tell if there’s a road under the potholes. Garbage piles and filth are everywhere.”
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Urging people to vote against AAP
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been out of power in Delhi since 1998 and is eyeing this election as an opportunity. The party has not announced any chief ministerial candidate and is banking on the brand of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Yogi said he believed Delhi residents would no longer be taken in by AAP’s “misleading statements”.
“Except for the NDMC area where round-the-clock power supply is ensured by the Centre, in the rest of Delhi, the power cuts are more than any other metros and cities of the country,” he said.
He also alleged that the per unit charge of electricity in Uttar Pradesh for an ordinary consumer was not more than Rs 3-3.50, while in Delhi, consumers were being charged Rs 9-10 per unit.
“It means they are charging three times more money than UP but are unable to provide 24-hour power supply,” he said, urging people to remove those from power who were playing with them, dirtying Delhi and not taking care of national security.
Yogi said AAP was “playing with national security” as he talked about the 2020 riots in north-east Delhi.
“You must have seen how riots were created in Delhi in 2020 and the involvement of an AAP councillor and MLA had come to light. The AAP government has consistently failed to ensure peace and safety,” he added. It was not immediately clear what he was referring to.
He also said AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal had committed the “sin” of converting the Yamuna into a “dirty drain”. The devotees and saints in the holy cities of Mathura and Vrindavan are also “victims of sins of AAP” since that’s where the “Yamuna reaches in the form of a dirty drain”.
“Yesterday, I along with all my ministers took a holy dip at the Sangam in Prayagraj where Maha Kumbh is on. I want to ask Kejriwal whether he can bathe in the Yamuna in Delhi along with his ministers. He should answer if he has any moral courage,” the UP CM added.
Addressing a second rally in Karol Bagh from where the party has fielded BJP national general secretary Dushyant Gautam, CM Yogi blamed Kejriwal for the “hellish” conditions of Delhi.
“Arvind Kejriwal is the biggest culprit of the state that Delhi is in today. He is an ATM of lies. He has made Delhi hell.”
Referring to the water problems in parts of Delhi, he added, “Right now it is January and soon in the next few months we will witness the tanker mafias.”
‘Safe environment in BJP states’
Yogi spoke for around 30 minutes at each of the two rallies and addressed a third one in Janakpuri later in the day.
There, once again referring to the Delhi riots, the UP CM alleged that through the help of “Bangladeshi infiltrators”, the AAP MLAs, councillors and party workers organised the riots. “They encouraged gundagardi (hooliganism) and anarchy at Shaheen Bagh.”
“You will have a safe environment in states that are under BJP rule,” he said, once again referring to the double-engine government.
The UP CM also claimed that AAP leaders were using the state’s land to settle “infiltrators”.
“You must have seen two years back in Jamia Millia and surrounding areas, the irrigation land of the UP government was used by their MLAs, councillors, and workers to settle Bangladeshi infiltrators.”
“I tried speaking to them about the issue twice or thrice that this is UP irrigation’s land and don’t settle them there. But when they tried to do it forcefully I had to send bulldozers from UP to remove them,” he said to a cheering crowd.
He said he had the government land “ruthlessly” cleared and then barricaded, with Provincial Armed Constabulary deployed there. The land, he said, has been earmarked for Delhi. “In future, if an institution will be set up here we will provide land or for any welfare work we will provide help, but, for foreign infiltrators, we won’t spare even an inch of land in Delhi,” he said.
The UP CM will also address multiple rallies in the coming few days. Delhi polls are scheduled for 5 February with results expected on 8 February.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
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