New Delhi [India], March 12: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers organized a protest on Wednesday against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for failing to fulfill its promise of providing free LPG cylinders to women during Holi. Following the protest, several party members were detained by the police.
Speaking after the detention, AAP leader Rituraj Jha told, “Freedom of expression is the right of the people. We are simply asking, when will we get the free cylinders, Modi ji? You had promised.”
Earlier in the day, Delhi Assembly Leader of the Opposition, Atishi, criticized the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not keeping their promises to women in Delhi. These promises included Rs 2,500 in aid and free LPG cylinders. Atishi remarked, “The BJP and PM Modi made several promises to the people of Delhi. The Rs 2,500 promise turned out to be a ‘Jhumla.’ Women in Delhi were supposed to get free cylinders for Holi, but with only two days left, they are still waiting. In different parts of Delhi, women are protesting with empty cylinders against the BJP and their fake promises.”
In their manifesto for the Delhi Assembly elections, the BJP had promised to provide monthly financial assistance of Rs 2,500 under the Mahila Samriddhi Yojana, along with LPG cylinders at Rs 500 for low-income families. Additionally, the BJP had committed to distributing one free cylinder to women during Holi and Diwali.
Atishi also raised concerns over the allocation of speaking time in the Assembly. She wrote to Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta, requesting that opposition MLAs be given appropriate time to speak. She alleged that during the last session, AAP MLAs were given inadequate time to address the house and called the expulsion of AAP MLAs wrong.
On March 8, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta had addressed an event on International Women’s Day, reaffirming the BJP’s commitment to fulfill all its promises. She said, “The only government that approved a 33 percent reservation for women is Narendra Modi’s government. We will work for the welfare and security of women and deliver on all our promises. We have built pint toilets in Delhi to improve women’s security.”
Meanwhile, AAP MLA Gopal Rai criticized the BJP-led Delhi government, accusing them of playing a “blame game” to avoid fulfilling their electoral promises. Speaking to ANI, Rai said, “The Comptroller and Auditor General’s report is tabled in the Assembly and sent to the PAC for analysis. The BJP doesn’t want to table the CAG report; they just want to play the blame game even after forming the government. They could have tabled all the reports at once, but instead, they are doing it one by one to avoid working on their promises.”