Delhi elections 2015: AAP’s plans for home run hinge on bijli, paani, makaan

NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party’s manifesto, expected to be released within this week, promises pucca housing for all residents of JJ clusters in Delhi within five years. In fact, the party says that the city is massively short on housing for lower middle class and middle class requirements and it has identified over 200 acres of land with Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board where such houses can be built.
Senior party functionary Ashish Khetan said that the party will prioritize low-cost housing and flats for the economically weaker sections and middle class residents. “The government has been saying that no land is available in Delhi, but DUSIB has a large pool available. This is spread over areas like Kasturba Niketan, Savda Ghewra and Bhalaswa. This land will also be used to provide housing for slum residents. No demolition will be permitted till each resident of that slum is given a house,” he said.
With around 23 of 27 industrial areas lying defunct, the party is also eyeing them saying that their land use can be changed.
AAP’s manifesto is based on the principal of ‘big change without big spending’. The final document will encompass promises on water, power, health, education, trade, Swaraj and Lokpal as discussed by AAP under its Delhi Dialogues taking place since December 2014.
Outlining the major concerns for AAP, Khetan said that the manifesto would focus on full statehood for Delhi, bid for an ultra mega power project to ensure availability of cheap electricity, ensuring that at least 20% of the city’s power demand was met by solar energy by 2025, two lakh public toilets, etc. “Delhi will be made into a hub for business start-ups. Why should people get a good education and then leave to establish business elsewhere?” he said.
For areas like Dwarka, where the decision to ban private tankers led to massive heartburn, the party has said that this time it will only regulate these tankers and clamp down on mafia.