Be Indian, Adopt Indian: AAP's Stray Dog Campaign In Delhi Civic Polls

Running a campaign for adoption of street dogs, rehabilitating monkeys in their natural habitat and establishing cow shelters are some of the steps the AAP intends to undertake if voted to power in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal had launched the party's 10 guarantees earlier this month for the MCD polls on December 4. One of them is related to freeing the streets of the metropolis from the menace of stray animals.

AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said the party would run a 'Be Indian, Adopt Indian' campaign if it wins the MCD election, adding that they wanted to urge people to come forward and adopt Indian breeds of canines.

"It's not as if we have any problems with dogs of foreign breeds. The people are free to adopt and take care of them as well," he said at a press conference at the party headquarters.

"But since we are Indians and we have a great variety of dogs of Indian breed, we would urge people to take care of them as well." He added that the AAP was starting the campaign at their level.

"Once we come to power at the MCD, we will initiate this campaign at a bigger level and collaborate with NGOs and find solutions to the problems of all the stray animals in Delhi," Mr Bharadwaj said.

The AAP leader said they would fund the NGOs in taking care of the dogs.

Mr Bharadwaj pointed out that in most societies in Delhi, one will find a set of people who keep pets and are vocal for the rights of their dogs, while there are others who stay away from dogs and have problems with those who feed the stray dogs.

In some areas, there had been cases where stray dogs attacked people for various reasons, which could be for lack of food or safety, he said.

"Over the last 15 years, the BJP-ruled MCD has claimed every year to have sterilised the stray dogs in Delhi. But despite this, we've only seen the number of stray dogs in Delhi rise," Mr Bharadwaj said.

He alleged that the MCD was never interested in a serious conversation about the issue of stray dogs even as the Delhi government tried several times to discuss it.

"We had also had a discussion in the Assembly, but again the MCD never followed through on the actions that they were to take," he said.

The Greater Kailash MLA also rued the fact that stray cattle were found eating garbage at landfill sites.

"This is despite the fact that in India, cows are considered to be sacred. Ideally they should be living in a cow shelter and eating fresh grass over there and not the garbage in a landfill," he said.

The AAP spokesperson said the party would create cow shelters to cater to the needs of stray cattle, which would live there with safety and be given nutritious food.

Regarding the monkey menace, particularly in south Delhi, Mr Bharadwaj said the AAP would ensure that these animals were released in their natural habitat, such as the Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary.

"We'll also ensure that the monkeys are provided with adequate food options at their habitat and that they do not have to venture into colonies in Delhi," he said.

Mr Bharadwaj also said the Anti Corruption Branch should carry out a neutral investigation after it questioned party legislator Akhilesh Pati Tripathi on Thursday in connection with case of bribery for a civic poll ticket.

"The guilty shouldn't be spared," Mr Bharadwaj said.

On Tuesday, the ACB arrested Tripathi's brother-in-law and his two associates for allegedly demanding Rs 90 lac as bribe for giving ticket to an AAP worker's wife in the civic polls.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)