Will ensure that no family faces water crisis in South Delhi: Ramesh Bidhuri
Candidates for the Lok Sabha polls in Delhi filed their nomination papers last week and the campaign to appeal for people's votes has begun in full swing with just a few weeks to go for the poll scheduled on May 12.
In an exclusive interview with Abhay Singh and Abhinay Lakshman of the Millennium Post, South Delhi BJP candidate Ramesh Bidhuri talked about what his campaign was going to look like, his achievements in the last five years and why he thought his opponents don't stand a chance.
In your opinion, what has been your crowning achievement as an MP in last five years?
Before our government came in, people had lost confidence in public representatives and were looking for people who could take up their issue in parliament. In the last five years, the most important work I have done in my constituency is that I have built a level of trust that is unprecedented. I believe the work we have managed to accomplish has restored people's trust in public representatives and the system of representative politics all over again. So the first thing would have to be that I have made a place in people's hearts. Secondly, the development projects that our government has managed to fulfill in our regime is nothing short of historic. Starting from building railway foot-over-bridges to establishing community centres for the poor in my constituency, I can list more than 25 such projects that have helped people in South Delhi.
What are your poll promises for this year?
Firstly, I am going to work for completion of the Metro project, that the Delhi government has left hanging since 2016. If the state government does not fast-track the project's completion, the central government will take it upon itself to get it done. Given its unique governance structure and the fact that Delhi is the National Capital, we will bring a notification in parliament and resume the Metro work from Jaitpur. Secondly, there is a water crisis that people of South Delhi are suffering from. In 2014, we started two underground reservoirs in South Delhi, including one in Dwarka. After that, the Delhi government has not done anything to solve the water crisis in my constituency. In the first 150 days of our next government, I will make sure that every family in the constituency gets ample water supply. I will fight to get water to the people of South Delhi and make sure that no family has to face a shortage in this regard.
You are going up against Vijender Singh and Raghav Chadha. Do you think this may reduce your chances?
Both of them have no importance in the upcoming polls whatsoever. These candidates have been fielded by their parties just out of desperation. The parties know very well that there aren't any legitimate candidates willing to put up a fight against me and the BJP in South Delhi. It seems to be very obvious that other party members from AAP and Congress have refused to fight me here in my constituency. At the end of the day when they lose to me and my party, the AAP candidate will surely be able to introspect and say that he was forced to contest against me in South Delhi.
What will be your campaign strategy?
Our campaign strategy has been one that has been going on for the last five years from the moment we formed the government. People already know that we have been working with the idea to simply serve the people who have elected us into parliament. This is not something we need to impress upon voters anymore. And it is also known that what people expect from their public representatives, we are putting our everything into fulfilling them. Further, our campaign will focus on the motto: "Mera parivar, Bhajpa parivar". Our party workers are already reaching out to voters door-to-door with the message that a BJP government at the Centre is necessary for the nation's pride to be restored. Our main goal here is to show people that if they want development, then Narendra Modi must become PM again, and for that my victory is crucial.
