AAP national spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj, who will soon join the Delhi cabinet as a minister, said the city’s population has grown manifold since 1994, but its water share has remained unchanged and calls for the Center to increase it. Where is it?
Bhardwaj said that apart from education and health, the priorities of the AAP government are basic infrastructure and providing clean water to the residents of Delhi.
“We are trying to beautify parts of Delhi with street furniture and construction of walking and seating areas. A kilometer long stretch has been redeveloped at 10 places. Now the plan is to expand it to the rest of Delhi.”
Bhardwaj, who is also the vice-chairman of the Delhi Jal Board, said he has promised that the Yamuna will be cleaned before the next elections.
“We will stop the sewage that goes into the Yamuna and release clean water into the river through various sewage treatment plants. Human waste flows into drains from all unauthorized colonies and then flows through those drains into Yamuna. Not only is it against the rules of the environment, but all the waste goes into a holy river.”
Apart from ensuring a clean Yamuna, another issue Delhi is grappling with is limited sources of water.
“This is something (Delhi’s share of water) which was decided in 1994 and since then the population has increased. We have requested the Center that our share of water should be proportionate to the population.
“Look, this is not the population of Delhi. Delhi is a mini India where people from other states like Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Bihar have come and settled. That’s why we should get water from that part of India. We are asking the Center for this,” he explained.
The senior leader said that as a minister, his priority would be to make government departments more accountable to the people and ensure greater convenience in the people-government interface.
Bhardwaj and Atishi’s names were forwarded by the Delhi government to Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena for elevation as cabinet ministers following the resignations of Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, arrested in different cases of alleged corruption.
The 43-year-old recalled the time before joining India Against Corruption, where he decided to strike an off and work-life balance.
“I joined the India Against Corruption movement when IT was booming. I was making good money, had a work-life balance.
“Whenever we used to travel, we used to stay in five-star hotels. I have worked in Milwaukee, US and Gurugram in Hyderabad, Wisconsin. Then, I invested in India Against Corruption. I met people there, got registered as a volunteer and then on 26 November 2012 the party was registered. I am also one of the founding members of the party.
But because of what he left the job? The AAP leader replied: “It was not much exciting. I thought working as a social worker would be a good platform to meet people, hold governments and departments accountable and maybe change the way governance is done. from all walks of life,” he insisted.
Engineer-turned-politician from the beginning of Aam Aadmi Party till now and also saw the obstacles coming in the way of its becoming a national party last year.
He said that AAP has faced many challenges since its inception. In 2013, when he contested his first election, a sting operation was carried out to try to implicate leaders Kumar Vishwas and Shazia Ilmi, who were then part of the party, he recalled.
“Then there was pressure on us to form government with Congress and when we did it, there was pressure as to why we did it… We fought against Congress but then entered into an alliance with them,” he said. Later, we resigned from the government,” he said.
He said the period between 2013 and 2015 was particularly challenging.
“Arvind Kejriwal contested against Modiji from Varanasi in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. After Modiji became the Prime Minister, many people disliked Kejriwalji and said that you left the government of Delhi to contest elections.
“People said now you are done for and there is no turning back. Then we won the 2015 Delhi elections with a huge mandate of 67 seats.
He said the party has time and again proved its critics wrong with its performance.
“We contested the Punjab elections in 2017 and got a few seats. Then everyone said that we are the party of Municipal Corporation which is limited to Delhi only and we will not come to power again in Delhi also.
“We came to power again in 2020 and then we never looked back. We formed the government in Punjab and won seats in Gujarat and Goa.
Bhardwaj has represented the Greater Kailash assembly constituency since 2013.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)