AAP’s nationwide spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj, who will quickly be becoming a member of the Delhi cupboard as a minister, mentioned that town’s inhabitants has risen manifold since 1994 however its water share has remained unchanged and requested the Centre to extend it.
Bhardwaj mentioned the priorities of the AAP authorities are infrastructure and offering clear water to the residents in Delhi, other than schooling and well being.
“We are attempting to beautify stretches of Delhi with avenue furnishings and creation of strolling and sitting areas. At 10 locations, one-kilometre-long stretches have been redeveloped. Now the plan is to increase it to the remainder of Delhi,” he told PTI in an interview.
Bhardwaj, who is also the vice-chairman of the Delhi Jal Board, said they have promised that before the next election, Yamuna will be cleaned.
“The sewage that goes into Yamuna we will trap it and through different sewage treatment plants and release clean water into the river. Human waste flows into drains from all unauthorised colonies and then from those drains, it flows into the Yamuna. It is not only against environmental norms but all the waste goes into a pious river,” he mentioned.
Apart from making certain a clear Yamuna, one other challenge that Delhi is grappling with is restricted sources of water.
“It is one thing (water share of Delhi) that was determined in 1994 and since then the inhabitants has grown. We have requested the Centre that our share of water ought to be in proportion to the inhabitants.
“See, it’s not Delhi’s inhabitants. Delhi is a mini-India the place individuals from different states like Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Bihar have settled. So we should always get that share of water from India. We have been asking the Centre for it,” he explained.
The senior leader said that as a minister, his priorities will be to make government departments more accountable to the people and ensure greater convenience in the public-government interface.
Bhardwaj and Atishi’s names were sent by the Delhi government to LG VK Saxena for their elevation as Cabinet ministers, following the resignations of Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, who were arrested in different cases of alleged corruption.
The 43-year-old reminisced about the time before he joined India Against Corruption where he had fixed offs and a work-life balance.
“I went into India Against Corruption movement when IT was booming. I was earning good money, there was a work-life balance.
“Whenever we travelled, we stayed in five-star hotels. I have worked in Hyderabad, Milwaukee in Wisconsin, the US, and Gurugram. Then, I got invested in India Against Corruption. I met people there, registered as a volunteer, and then the party was registered on November 26, 2012. I am also one of the founding members of the party,” he mentioned.
But what made him stop his job? The AAP chief replied: “It was no extra thrilling. I believed working as a social activist can be a great discussion board to fulfill individuals, make governments and departments accountable and doubtless change the best way governance occurs.” “We had very wild ideas regarding decentralisation of governance. We were an unconventional party since there were people from all walks of life,” he asserted.
The engineer-turned-politician additionally appeared again at Aam Admi Party’s journey from its inception and the street bumps it hit on its path to changing into a nationwide get together final 12 months.
AAP has confronted many challenges since its inception, he mentioned. In 2013, once they contested their first election, there was a sting operation that attempted to forged aspersions on leaders Kumar Vishwas and Shazia Ilmi who have been a component of the get together at the moment, he recalled.
“Then there was strain on us to type a authorities with the Congress and after we did so, there was a strain on as to why we did it… We had fought in opposition to Congress however then aligned with them. Later, we resigned from the federal government,” he said.
He said the period between 2013 to 2015 was especially challenging.
“Arvind Kejriwal contested against Modiji from Varanasi in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. A lot of people, after Modiji became Prime Minister, developed a dislike for Kejriwal ji and said that you left the government in Delhi to contest polls,” he mentioned.
“People mentioned that now AAP is finished for and there’s no comeback. Then we gained the 2015 Delhi elections with a humongous mandate of 67 seats,” he said.
He said the party has time and again proved its detractors wrong with its performance.
“We contested the Punjab elections in 2017 and got a few seats. Then everyone said we are a municipal party that is just restricted to Delhi and even in Delhi we won’t come back to power.
“We came to power in 2020 again and then we never looked back. We formed a government in Punjab, and won seats in Gujarat and Goa,” he mentioned.
Bhardwaj has represented Greater Kailash Assembly meeting constituency since 2013.
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