New Delhi:
At a ceremony inaugurating 1,675 flats for residents of slum clusters and two major urban redevelopment projects in the national capital, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a swipe at Arvind Kejriwal, referring to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government as an “AAPda” (disaster) that has gripped Delhi for the past decade.
PM Modi accused the AAP leadership of pushing Delhi into a crisis and claimed their governance was defined by corruption and mismanagement.
“In the last 10 years, Delhi is surrounded by an ‘AAPda’. AAP has descended as a calamity on Delhi. I could have built a ‘Sheeshmahal’ (glass palace) too, but I chose to build more than 4 crore homes for the poor,” PM Modi said at the event, alluding to recent allegations of exorbitant expenditures on the Delhi Chief Minister’s residence.
This statement referred to an October inventory released by the Public Works Department (PWD), detailing high-end appliances and gadgets reportedly worth over crores installed at the Delhi Chief Minister’s bungalow. The controversy has become a political flashpoint between the BJP and the AAP.
In a rebuttal, Arvind Kejriwal accused the BJP of failing Delhi over the past decade and dismissed PM Modi’s remarks as “personal attacks.” Mr Kejriwal claimed his government’s record in education, healthcare, and infrastructure far outpaced the BJP’s contributions.
“In 10 years, the BJP has not done a single significant thing in Delhi. They promised permanent housing by 2022 but have built only 4,700 houses in five years. Compare that to AAP’s work-22,000 classrooms, three new universities, and countless developmental initiatives,” Mr Kejriwal said.
PM Modi, during his 43-minute speech, emphasized that the BJP-led central government has been the driving force behind Delhi’s infrastructure growth. He handed over keys to beneficiaries of the Delhi Development Authority’s (DDA) In-Situ Slum Rehabilitation Project in Ashok Vihar, where eligible recipients paid only a fraction of the construction cost.
The Prime Minister also inaugurated two urban redevelopment projects – the World Trade Centre at Nauroji Nagar and residential quarters at Sarojini Nagar.
Mr Kejriwal countered by accusing the BJP of demolishing slums without providing alternatives. “If you had voted for BJP, they would have razed all slums in Delhi,” he alleged. “There is no ‘AAPda’ in Delhi. The real disaster is the BJP.”
