New Delhi, Jan 24: The Congress on Friday announced that there will be a separate ministry and budget for Poorvanchalis in Delhi if the party is elected to power in the upcoming assembly elections.
The Congress leaders alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has destroyed Delhi’s world-class infrastructure and turned it into garbage. They accused the AAP government of indulging in corruption to the tune of Rs 382 crore in the healthcare sector.
Talking to reporters in the Delhi Congress office, the party’s Bihar unit president and former Union minister Akhilesh Prasad Singh said if Delhi has become a world-class city, the Poorvanchalis have as much role in it as others living in the national capital.
“Today, we want to make two important announcements. There will be a separate ministry and a separate budget for the people of Poorvanchalis if the Congress is elected to power in the upcoming polls so that issues related to their housing, living conditions, education, health etc. can be addressed,” Singh said.
This separate ministry with a separate budget will be created in order to look after the issues affecting the nearly 35 lakh Poorvanchalis living in Delhi, he said. The Poorvanchalis have been treated as mere vote banks by AAP and BJP without giving them basic facilities to live, he claimed.
Singh said he went to Sangam Vihar in South Delhi and witnessed that the Poorvanchalis were forced to live in abominable conditions in unauthorised colonies of the national capital.
“Kejriwal insulted Poorvanchalis after getting their votes by saying they come to Delhi with a Rs 500 ticket and then get treatment worth Rs 5 lakh while BJP president J P Nadda insulted the Poorvanchalis by equating them with Bangladeshis and Rohingya infiltrators,” he said.
Delhi residents from eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand are referred to as Poorvanchalis in the national capital. They constitute a sizable percentage of the voters who can decide the fate of candidates in several constituencies of Delhi due to which the Congress, BJP and AAP woo them during the elections.
AICC chairperson of social media and digital platform Supriya Shrinate said the Poorvanchalis have gone to every corner of this country and developed those places. But when it comes to their rights, they are being treated unfairly, she said.
Pranav Jha, in-charge, media and communication of the Congress president’s office, said the Congress government will create a Chhath Ghat on the banks of the Yamuna and Chhath, the most pious religious festival of the Poorvanchalis, will be held like the Kumbh Mela. The Chhath Ghat will be declared as a separate district, he added.
AICC in-charge of NSUI Kanhaiya Kumar said today is National Girl Child Day and Congress is the only party that accords equal rights to women in every field as the party ideology is against discrimination in any form. He said only Congress can provide all-round development, which it had implemented successfully during its 15-year rule in Delhi. (PTI)
