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Expressways to underpasses, Gadkari’s MCD poll pitch for BJP focusses on his ministry’s work

At a rally held in Delhi Wednesday, Union minister for road transport & highways Nitin Gadkari focussed on his ministry’s schemes to woo voters in order to retain BJP's hold over MCD.

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New Delhi: At a rally held in Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar Wednesday, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Union Minister Nitin Gadkari pitched for a Delhi free of traffic woes and pollution.

Gadkari, Union minister for road transport and highways, was campaigning for the soon-to-be-held elections for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), where the BJP has been in power since 2007. The party has been pulling out its heavyweights — including national-level leaders and Union ministers — to retain its power over the civic body.

The chief ministers of northern states, like Pushkar Singh Dhami (Uttarakhand), Jairam Thakur (Himachal Pradesh) and Manohar Lal Khattar (Haryana), have been holding road shows and rallies in various Delhi wards.

The MCD elections are scheduled to be held on 4 December and results will be declared on 7 December.

At the Lajpat Nagar rally, Gadkari focused on his ministry’s schemes to woo voters. His pitch included mentions of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway, Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor, Delhi-Mumbai expressway, and the success of previous initiatives of the ministry.

“Now one can reach Haridwar or Jaipur from Delhi in two hours, Delhi to Amritsar in four hours and Delhi to Mumbai in 12 hours via road”, he said.

“We made an underpass near Rajiv Chowk and IFFCO Chowk at a cost of Rs 140 crore. We also made an eight-lane road near Dhaula Kuan at the cost of Rs 270 crore, which helped get rid of traffic,” he added.

Delhi, said Gadkari, is dealing with two major issues — traffic and pollution — adding that he will be spending Rs 60,000 crore from his own ministry’s fund to tackle these problems.

“When I was then water resources minister, we took the initiative to clean Ganga, Yamuna and 40 drainages. That time, the Delhi government was allotted Rs 600 crore to clean the Yamuna”.

In 2019, Gadkari had said that Yamuna water will be fit for drinking in about 18 months. The issue of cleanliness of Yamuna and the Chhath Ghat has often been a reason for battle between the Aam Aadmi Party and BJP, with both blaming the other for not taking action.

He also announced that a plant to convert crop stubble into bioethanol — an environment friendly alternative to fossil fuels — has already been established in Panipat, and his department has come up with new technology to turn stubble into organic carbon which can be used to make roads.

He ended his pitch by asking people to vote to strengthen the BJP government under the leadership of PM Modi and choose them in the MCD elections.

In his speech, though, Gadkari only focused on what his ministry has achieved or is planning to do and, apart from pollution and traffic in the city, failed to mention any other MCD-specific issues, like sanitation, water, garbage, sewage management, among other things.

BJP supporters cheer Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari at a rally held in Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar ahead of the MCD elections | Credit: Twitter, @nitin_gadkari
BJP supporters cheer Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari at a rally held in Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar ahead of the MCD elections | Credit: Twitter, @nitin_gadkari

BJP supporters cheer Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari at a rally held in Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar ahead of the MCD elections | Credit: Twitter, @nitin_gadkariBJP Delhi vice-president Virendra Sachdeva said that for people, Gadkari is synonymous with development. He has worked on highways, which has been useful for people in Delhi, who now know him for his work. Mobilising him to campaign for the MCD polls serves as a reminder for voters.

“Do not look at it from the lens of MCD polls or Vidhan Sabha polls,” said Sachdeva to ThePrint. “Most people use vehicles, so if more highways are being built, and roads are being broadened, it is the people of Delhi who will benefit,” he said.

Sources in the BJP said Gadkari is “a face of governance”, and a credible voice. He is seen as someone who delivers what he promises. The party, the sources added, has been trying to get him to do rallies, but he has done very few due to his bad health over the past few months.

Gadkari also did road shows today in Kasturba Nagar, South Delhi and is scheduled to hold another Jan Sabha at Civil Lines.

(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)


Also read: Mass contact, star campaigners — BJP ups the ante as internal evaluation shows MCD vote shortfall


 

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