BJP Extorting Money From Traders In Delhi, Alleges Manish Sisodia

Ahead of the municpal polls here, senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia on Wednesday accused the BJP of extorting money from traders in Krishna Nagar in east Delhi and said Arvind Kejriwal will help them get rid of this "curse".

Mr Sisodia, who is the deputy chief minister of Delhi, held marches in various wards of Laxmi Nagar, Krishna Nagar and Patparganj. He also interacted with people on civic issues faced by them.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) polls are being seen as a high stakes contest with the Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress eyeing to wrest it from the BJP which ruled it for 15 years.

"Water accumulates on streets and causes many diseases, but the BJP has completely ignored all this over the years. The BJP has never considered garbage management as their duty in the past five years," Mr Sisodia said, adding that in most of the colonies drains were choked and overflowing.

The BJP extorted money from traders and imposed conversion charges arbitrarily, but it was unable to provide a proper parking facility in the past 15 years, he alleged while addressing people in Krishna Nagar.

He said that along with this, it conducted various inappropriate sealing operations and tried to shut down many businesses. "This impacted many families," the deputy chief minister said.

"Traders are fed up with this now," he said and asserted that the AAP will come to power in the MCD on December 7.

"Kejriwal will help traders get rid of this curse named BJP soon," Mr Sisodia added.

He appealed to people to vote for the AAP in the polls to the MCD on December 4, counting for which will be held on the seventh of this month.

"Every day, people across Delhi hope to start their day on a positive note, instead they step out of their house and see piles of garbage around their doorstep," Mr Sisodia said.

"This is due to the mismanagement of the BJP. It's because of the inefficiency of the BJP in the MCD," he said.

Senior AAP leaders Mr Sisodia and Raghav Chadha also took part in a campaign in the Chandni Chowk area where various singers, including Mika Singh, performed and appealed to people to vote for the party.

Speaking at the campaign, Mr Sisodia said instead of providing facilities and services to traders in Chandni Chowk, the BJP kept "looting traders" for 15 years.

"Kejriwal has worked relentlessly to redevelop Chandni Chowk and return it to its former glory, but even during this initiative, the BJP only repeatedly tried to stop the work being done. They only looted the traders of Chandni Chowk for 15 years," he said.

Lashing out at the BJP, Mr Chadha said while being in power in the MCD, the BJP "only harassed the public, looted them and destroyed the city by spreading garbage".

The AAP "will liberate the people from the BJP's failures and its garbage. This time, the people will bring Kejriwal in the MCD", he said.

The party has also intensified its campaigns like 'Dance for Democracy', guitar and magic shows to spread their message to the public through cultural events.

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