NEW DELHI, August 6, 2025 — Delhi Congress President Devender Yadav criticized the BJP’s plan to celebrate Raksha Bandhan in slum areas, calling it a “cruel show of fake sympathy” after thousands were rendered homeless under their rule. He said the BJP government, shaken by growing public anger, is now attempting to cover up its actions with symbolic gestures.
Yadav highlighted that over 3,000 slum homes have been demolished in the past six months by the Rekha Gupta-led administration, leaving nearly 15,000 people without shelter. Now, by sending BJP leaders to tie Rakhis in selected bastis, he said, the government is rubbing salt into the wounds of those it displaced.
He questioned the BJP’s selective approach — planning Raksha Bandhan celebrations in only 256 Sewa Bastis while ignoring the plight of residents in over 675 JJ clusters across the city. “Why celebrate with them now, when you took away their homes just months ago?” he asked.
The Congress leader further pointed out that it was only after Rahul Gandhi visited the affected slum residents and assured them of Congress’s support that CM Rekha Gupta made a statement promising no further demolitions without rehabilitation. Yadav urged the BJP to instead distribute the 48,000 ready-to-move flats — constructed during the Congress tenure — to the affected families.
Calling the move a political drama ahead of the Assembly elections, Yadav reminded the public that BJP leaders had once lived in slums during campaigns, only to betray those same communities later. “Turning a sacred festival like Raksha Bandhan into a political stunt is both insensitive and dangerous,” he said. “This is not brotherhood — it’s betrayal in disguise.”
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