NEW DELHI
The residents of the capital’s rural and urban villages feel largely ignored by political parties. In light of this, the Delhi BJP Yuva Morcha, led by state President Shashi Yadav, has been holding Yuva Chaupals in several Delhi villages.
These villages are run-up to the municipal elections. There are 360 villages lying on the fringes and fragments of the national capital. These villages have their own problems to deal with, like lack of connectivity to urban areas, poor roads, haphazard construction, uncollected garbage, playgrounds, and even basic needs like hospitals.
Vinay Chandela, a resident, said, “These villages are part of Delhi, but we never got our recognition. I remember when Sheila Dixit came to inaugurate the Chaudhary Brahm Prakash Ayurved Charak Sansthan, which is apparently Asia’s biggest Ayurvedic hospital, she asked the crowd if this was part of Delhi. So, it was very disheartening that our own chief minister doesn’t know if these villages come under her territory.”
“We don’t have a proper health facility nor do we have proper parking in our village; we want development, so we are here,” said Dharamjeet Yadav.
According to BJYM, through this Yuva Chaupal, a campaign is being run to connect the youth living in the villages with the party. State president Shashi Yadav goes to different villages interacting with the youth and connects them with the party. They started this journey in September, and since then, they have completed one-third of the villages so far.
The president of BJYM said, “The doors of development have always been closed for villages. I believe that these villages decide the election results for the Delhi University North Campus. So, I also believe in the understanding that these villages can decide the result of the State Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) elections.”
He added: “Believe it or not, villages always have an influence on elections, and connecting villages was never part of any political party ruling in these decades, and today, the existence of the village is recognised within Delhi by the young chaupals.”On the motive behind these Yuva Chaupal programs, Yadav said, “We are working on connecting the youth living in the villages of Delhi with the party, as these youth will prove to be the Brahmastra for the party in uprooting the corrupt government of Kejriwal from Delhi.”
“It is all our land where those big buildings were made, and today we can’t even say that we belong to this village out of shame; if we do, then other people will ask if it comes under Delhi,” said a villager. “We are aware that no drastic change can occur by these chaupals, but at least we feel our participation and that’s the reason we come here,” he added.