Today on the occasion of Vijayadashami, the Delhi BJP has sought to commence its extensive 'Jhuggi Samman Yatra' in a bid to reach out to slum dwellers in the city. The move of BJP comes ahead of municipal corporation elections early next year.
The major goal of the yatra, which begins on October 15 is to extend respect and acknowledge the identity of people of slum settlements in the city, says Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta.
He had announced the massive Yatra during a press briefing on Wednesday.
The campaign will end on November 29 with BJP activists covering 33 Assembly segments in the first phase of the event. The campaign will begin in the Moti Nagar Assembly constituency.
"In light of civic issues such as sewage, power and water woes, as well as other issues faced by people living in slums," Gupta added, "the BJP teams will have a dialogue
with them and try to resolve it to their satisfaction."
The BJP which currently controls the MCDs will face AAP, which has been attempting to overtake it over issues of corruption and mismanagement, in civic polls in April next year.
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A total of 30 lakh people live in 675 slum clusters in Delhi. A huge percentage of slum residents had previously voted for the Congress, but in the 2013 and 2015 assembly elections, they
moved in large numbers to the AAP.
Since then, the AAP's free electricity and water initiatives, as well as water connections and road construction schemes, have resulted in this section voting massively for the party
in the Vidhan Sabha elections.
"Party leaders will reach out to slum dwellers and explain how they have benefited from Central Administration initiatives like as ration and direct benefit transfer, while the state
government has merely made empty promises of flats and employment," said BJP spokesperson Harish Khurana.
Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, the leader of the opposition in the Delhi assembly, claimed the AAP government promised slum residents flats seven years ago, but nothing happened.