Congress leaders from Outer Delhi areas on Sunday countered the BJP rally by stating that it has no base in the city and was resorting to levelling baseless allegations against the Sheila Dikshit Government as it was not finding adequate support from the people on the issue of power and water.
Addressing a public meeting at Bindapur, Parliamentary Secretary to the Chief Minister Mukesh Sharma claimed the Congress Government was sensitive to the people’s needs and had provided them with a big relief in the water bills. “They have been given permission to pay in six instalments and all late fee charges have been waived,” he said, adding that a rebate of 30 per cent has been offered for making all payments in six months.
Mr. Sharma said the Delhi Government has also regularised a large number of colonies and opened registration of properties in them.
At another public meeting at Mundka in West Delhi, All India Congress Committee member Naresh Kumar said the Delhi Government would soon be conferring ownership rights on the residents of jhuggi jhonpri colonies. He said the government would ensure that the Malhotra committee recommendations to conduct surveys and cancel bogus allotments would not affect those who had purchased plots due to increase in the number of family members.
Dr. Kumar questioned the BJP’s commitment towards the farmers, saying when it was in power it increased the minimum support price (MSP) of food items only marginally. On the other hand, he said, the UPA Government had doubled the MSP of most items. Similarly, the UPA Government had waived Rs.60,000 crore of farmers loans and this showed its commitment towards their welfare, he said.
