BJP MP from Hamirpur Anurag Thakur
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

With less than two weeks to go for the Assembly election, senior BJP leaders turned up the heat on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi on Friday (January 24, 2025).

While former Union Minister and Lok Sabha member Anurag Thakur accused AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal of “disrespecting” women by appointing Atishi as a “proxy Chief Minister”, Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami rued the lack of development in the city and said the time had come to vote for a “double-engine [BJP]” government.

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Addressing a public gathering, Mr. Thakur responded to AAP’s barb — that the BJP does not have a CM face in Delhi — by pitching the “honest Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh” against Delhi’s “dishonest CM”.

The former Union Minister alleged that the ruling AAP “got Rajya Sabha member Swati Maliwal assaulted at the CM’s residence”, ignored the plight of ASHA workers, denied ration cards to women, and promised but did not deliver ₹1,000 monthly cash assistance to women.

“On the other hand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched transformative schemes, such as Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, leading to significant positive changes for women,” said the Hamirpur MP at an event in support of Parvesh Sahib Singh, the party candidate up against Mr. Kejriwal in New Delhi seat.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami in Delhi on January 24, 2025.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

At another rally, he said, “We have pledged to provide ₹2,500 to every woman, gas cylinders at ₹500, and free cylinders during Holi and Deepavali, along with other benefits. In contrast, the Kejriwal-led government has failed to deliver on its promises to women.”

The Himachal Pradesh MP also accused AAP of neglecting civic issues such as the lack of clean drinking water, good quality air, and well-maintained roads.

‘Double-engine govt.’

At a separate rally in the national capital, the Uttarakhand CM said his State is a model of how a “double-engine government” can bring about an “infrastructure boom”.

“People keep voting for double-engine governments across the country again and again because they see the kind of work the party can do when it is in power at the Centre as well as in the State,” Mr. Dhami said.