 Vijay Malhotra, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) chief ministerial candidate for Delhi, tells UTVi why Delhi needs a change. He says getting full statehood is necessary for undertaking developmental activities and stopping terror in Delhi.
Today the capital city of Delhi needs jobs. It needs economic progress and what can you promise to the city of Delhi? What are the three most important things that you promise to the people of Delhi that you will change when the BJP comes to power and you become the chief minister? The ones that you will immediately change and take forward.
Malhotra: You see, there are three most important things that needs to be done immediately -- the development of water supply, electricity and roads. They are in a very bad shape. Two-thirds of Delhi is devoid of portable water, fast running meters of electricity and the corruption at Jal Board that is well known.
Do you think that enough work has been done for the Commonwealth game ?
Malhotra: The pace is very slow and the decision of the government to make the sports village right in the bed of Yamuna was very bad. I think that’s why the Supreme Court and the High Court are holding it out. The pace is so slow that we are getting cautious, we are getting warnings that the Commonwealth games may be shifted out of Delhi, if this pace continues.
Can you promise on the show? What will you do when you come to power?
Malhotra:Listen, there is a shortage of about 50,000 beds in hospitals and each bed has about eight persons or so. We can add 10,000 beds every year and create employment for about 4 lakh people. We will open 50 colleges. Not a single government college has been opened in Delhi in the past 10 years, and if we open 50 colleges, there will be employment for lakhs of people.
Delhi’s population has grown by 60 lakhs in the last 10 years and to accommodate these 60 lakh people, you need 12 lakh homes. Lot of houses are needed for the people in the slums and if we build 2-3 lakh houses every year, there will be employment for lakhs of people.
The key note of your campaign is that jeetegi BJP jaega aatank . If you become the chief minister, how will you stop terror? How do you promise that , knowing that the police is not under your control as it is not under the present government ?
Malhotra:The first thing is that we will clear the file of Afzal’s hanging, so that the message goes that terrorists will not escape punishment .Second, we will ask the central government to give full statehood for Delhi, and if our government comes to power, we will get full statehood. Full statehood will get us the law and order. We will also get the land and solve these problems
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