While people were dying of Covid, Kejriwal was building Sheesh Mahal: Parvesh Verma kickstarts campaign

“Kejriwal has done nothing for Delhi in the last 11 years… While you all were dying of Covid-19, Kejriwal was busy building a Sheesh Mahal for himself,” Verma tells his supporters.

As chants of “Parvesh Verma Zindabad” start picking up, he says, “Kamal khilne waala hai Dilli me 8 tareekh ko (The BJP is going to win the Delhi elections on February 8).”

As he is about to step down from the truck, a woman requests him for a photograph. He obliges and the crowd – many of whom are sporting orange and green caps with a lotus (BJP’s) symbol – erupts with slogans of “Delhi ka CM kaisa ho? Parvesh Verma jaisa ho”.

Before officially starting his campaign and filing his nomination, Verma visits three temples – Gauri Shankar Temple in Chandni Chowk, Hanuman Mandir in Connaught Place, and Maharishi Balmiki Mandir.

Following this, he leads a 3-km-long foot march – from his Windsor Place residence to Jamnagar House. Throughout the foot march, Verma keeps waving a green and saffron flag bearing the BJP symbol.

“The Delhi that my father and other CMs built is being destroyed by Kejriwal. No development has taken place in the jhuggis of New Delhi,” he says. “I must correct myself… we should call him Aaropi (accused) Kejriwal.”

Almost three lakh households in Delhi’s 675 slums and 1,700 jhuggi-jhopri (JJ) clusters make up around 10% of the city’s electorate.

At the end of his foot march, Verma holds a trident (symbolising Shiv) and a mace (symbolising Hanuman). “We will make houses for all JJ dwellers at places where their jhuggis exist. We will also help them get ownership of their plots… I will make sure that no JJ dweller has to leave Delhi,” he adds.

For many slum dwellers in the area, relocation is the biggest fear. A resident of B R Camp who works as a sewer cleaner says, “I don’t want to shift from this place. My ancestors have stayed here. I want my surroundings to get better. I think everyone here thinks the same way… we just want jobs and cleanliness… not relocation.”

At Windsor Place, as two women walk up to the ‘Sheesh Mahal’ model, one says: “Kya Kejriwal ka ghar sahi me aisa hai (Do you think Kejriwal’s house is really like this).” “Yes! I have seen it on the news,” the other replies.

However, while the message of corruption has partly resonated with some voters, others seem to think that it will not be the deciding factor. “The allegations of corruption don’t mean much to the public. They think ‘chaahe Kejriwal corrupt ho bhi, to humara kaam to chal raha hai… suvidha to mil rahi hai (even if Kejriwal is corrupt, our life is still comfortable due to his work),” says Om Prakash Gupta (75), a local resident.