: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “selfie politics” and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s “forgotten promises” were among the issues highlighted by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi during a protest here on Saturday.
The agitation programme was organised to call to attention the recent shortage of power and water in the Capital. Led by Mr. Gandhi, a large number of Congress workers marched from Rajghat to the Delhi Secretariat. While addressing the crowd, Mr.Gandhi took on the Centre and the Delhi government for everything from droughts across the country to power cuts in the Capital.
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“There are droughts all over the country. Farmers are committing suicide, but here at India Gate, Modiji is celebrating with Bollywood stars,” Mr. Gandhi said, referring to the celebration of the two-year anniversary of the Modi government that took place on Saturday.
He attacked the “politics of lies” in the country, saying that his own politics was based on the ideology of Mahatma Gandhi.
Mr. Gandhi said that the people of Delhi and India were slowly realising that the country would not progress with false promises and lies.
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“Who is hurt when there is selfie politics? It’s the farmer, the small businessman,” said Mr. Gandhi.
Hitting out against the AAP government, he said Mr. Kejriwal had forgotten the promises made during the election campaign.
“He promised uninterrupted electricity and water supply, but after coming to power, he forgot the promises,” said Mr. Gandhi, adding that the Congress knew how to provide those facilities.
Mr. Gandhi said the Congress worked for people, rather than “doing PR”, and would return to power in Delhi.
Ajay Maken, president, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee, said both Mr. Kejriwal and Mr. Modi were feathering their own political nests without tackling the pressing problems of the Capital.
He said that the city was suffering from acute water shortage because of Kejriwal’s “soaring Punjab ambitions”.
Mr. Maken further said the draft notification for changes in the Delhi Electric Supply Code and Performance Standards to compensate consumers suffering from power outages was issued by the DERC in June last year, and the last date for seeking views had been extended four times. The final notification, however, is yet to come.
Meanwhile, traffic was affected in the area for a few hours as Congress workers marched. Sharad Aggarwal, the Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), said that traffic was diverted for about two hours while the protest was on.