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The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday said it will hold a symbolic protest against “BJP’s debacles” in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) by burning effigies of ‘Ravan’ made out of trash at over 3,500 sites in the city on Tuesday.
On Monday, AAP in-charge of the MCD Durgesh Pathak said that the municipality, which was governed by the BJP before its merger in May, had brought “immense shame” to Delhi by hitting “the rock bottom” year after year in the Swachhta Surveys. “The BJP gifted Delhi three mountains of garbage in its 15 years of rule at the MCD. It now plans to add 16 more mountains,” Mr. Pathak said. He appealed to all Delhiites to join the party in burning the effigy of “BJP’s maladministration” this Dussehra.
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The protest being organised by AAP comes two days after the Centre released the Swachh Survekshan 2022 rankings, in which none of the three erstwhile corporations managed to score a single point in the garbage-free city category.
“On October 4, we will get together to burn the effigies of Ravana made of trash. This symbolic protest will be taken out at over 3,500 sites all over Delhi,” Mr. Pathak said.
He alleged that filth and trash on the streets of Delhi were symbols of the BJP’s “disastrous” run at the corporation. “We demand that MCD elections be held at the earliest so that AAP comes to power and rids Delhi of all the garbage,” he added.
BJP reacts
Reacting to AAP’s plans, Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said neither AAP MLA Durgesh Pathak nor his party had "any respect for Hindu beliefs."
"No doubt Ravan was considered a symbol of evil but that he was also a great devotee of Lord Shiva and even Lord Ram ensured that Ravan was cremated properly after his death. Therefore making effigies out of trash and filth is a great disrespect to Hindu beliefs," Mr. Kapoor said.