File photo of AICC General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra with J P Agarwal
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: The Congress' Lok Sabha candidate from the Chandni Chowk seat, Jai Prakash Agarwal, has alleged that no progress has been made in the area and "there has been a complete blackout for 10 years."
"When I got to know that I have to contest the elections from here (Chandni Chowk), I started thinking about the issues I should take up first. However, I saw that there was not a single agenda on which work has started here," Agarwal said.
"There was a complete blackout for 10 years. So, now we will have to work hard from the beginning on the issues of the area and from the first day, you will hear my voice in the Parliament," the Congress leader said.
He claimed the people of the constituency face several issues but not a single question has been raised in the Parliament which was related to the people of the area or the traders.
"Old Delhi, which was also known as Shahjanabad, has different problems. We need to work on our outer areas where multi-storey flats, plotted areas and JJ clusters are there and solve their issues also," the 79-year-old Congress leader told PTI.
In an apparent reference to the NDA-led BJP government at the Centre, Agarwal said, "This government has a dictatorial attitude. They use money to break governments, misuse ED against elected leaders and put chief ministers in jails."
"This method is not right and no one likes it. The AAP and Congress have raised their voice against this government and, therefore, both the parties are fighting this Lok Sabha elections together," he said.
According to the Congress leader, the beautification of a place means creating a conducive environment for the people living in that area.
"I believe that beautification (of Chandini Chowk) will be to improve the facilities offered to the people in the wholesale market, which is perhaps one of the biggest in Asia," he said.
"Demolishing markets, imposing GST and different laws on the traders is not beautification according to me," Agarwal said.
Asked about Harsh Vardhan, BJP senior leader and two-time MP from the constituency, and Praveen Khandelwal, the saffron party candidate from the seat, Agarwal said he refrains from commenting about individuals.
"I know that he (Khandelwal) is a BJP candidate. The BJP has been at the Centre for the last 10 years but it has failed 100 per cent in working in favour of the poor," the Congress leader said.
He added that each election is different.
"The BJP had once won only two seats in Lok Sabha but today, it is their government. So, every election is different and things change with time," Agarwal said.
The veteran Congress leader was first elected to Lok Sabha from the Chandni Chowk seat in 1984. Later, he became an MP twice from the same seat in 1989 and 1995. In 2006, he was nominated for Rajya Sabha and in 2009, he was again elected as a Lok Sabha MP from northeast Delhi constituency.