Cong targets BJP, AAP over ‘misrule’ as campaign for MCD bypolls intensify

As campaigning intensifies for the upcoming byelections in 12 Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) wards, the Delhi Congress on Sunday launched a sharp attack on both the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), alleging that years of neglect under their administrations had left the city’s unauthorised colonies, resettlement areas and JJ clusters in “misery and filth”.

Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) president Devender Yadav said residents were increasingly frustrated with what he described as unkept promises and inadequate civic services under both parties. “People of Delhi are disappointed with the hollow and false promises of the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party. They are now looking at the Congress with hope and confidence,” he told party workers.

Yadav claimed that in over 12 years of MCD rule under the two parties, civic infrastructure had deteriorated significantly. Neither the BJP nor AAP, he said, had implemented development or welfare schemes in these areas. Drains remained clogged, roads broken and garbage overflowing, forcing people to live in unhygienic conditions.

He also criticised Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, alleging that none of the BJP’s Assembly poll promises had been fulfilled. He accused the AAP government of “ruining slum dwellers” over the past 11 years and the BJP of adding to their distress in the last nine months through “bulldozer politics”.

Yadav was speaking at the inauguration of the election office of Congress candidate Suresh Chaudhary in Sangam Vihar-A (Ward 163). He said residents there were eager for change, adding that many complained that most civic amenities, such as drains, roads and community centres, had last been constructed during the Congress government led by Sheila Dikshit.

Citing the Shalimar Bagh ward, which falls within Chief Minister Gupta’s Assembly constituency, Yadav alleged that a recent demolition had left thousands homeless. “There are just two public toilets for nearly 1,600 people. There is no proper garbage disposal and during rains, people are forced to live in muck,” he said, questioning the BJP and AAP’s claims of development.

The DPCC chief said Congress candidates were conducting door-to-door campaigns urging residents to vote for those who would remain accessible and responsive to everyday civic problems. During his outreach, Yadav asked voters whether they wanted “clean drinking water, a pollution-free Delhi, a clean Yamuna, freedom from garbage mounds and better-maintained civic infrastructure,” adding that these remained unmet promises under the current dispensation.