Pollution occupies centre stage as BJP's Delhi poll campaign picks up pace

The BJP has put the pollution issue at the centre stage of its campaign strategy for the Delhi Assembly polls scheduled to be held in February next year, according to party leaders.

Along with this, corruption, bad condition of roads, water supply and poor infrastructure are among the issues with which the opposition party plans to target the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the elections, the BJP's Delhi unit chief Virendra Sachdeva said.

Pollution is one of the main poll planks of the party, he said.

The city's air quality has been worsening as it edged closer to the severe zone in some areas on Tuesday.

The Delhi BJP has been mounting relentless attacks on the AAP over the issue of hazardous air as well as toxic froth witnessed on the Yamuna river.

"Not just air pollution, the AAP government's failure to clean the heavily polluted Yamuna in Delhi is another issue that touches every Delhiite. People are falling ill due to worsening air quality. We cannot let the AAP government go scot-free," Sachdeva asserted.

The campaign for Delhi Assembly polls is picking up pace as is the drop in air quality of the city. The 24-hour average AQI recorded at 4 pm was reported at 381 on Monday, the second highest in the country.

Data from the Central Pollution Control Board's Sameer app, which provides hourly AQI updates, showed that out of the 38 monitoring stations, 13 were in the severe category with readings above 400.

A senior Delhi BJP leader said that with campaigning for Assembly polls likely to pick up pace during winter, the issue of worsening air quality will definitely figure in the hustings and the party will use it to attack the AAP.

The issue of pollution in the Yamuna river is also gathering momentum as lakhs of Purvanchalis settled in Delhi are celebrating their most prominent festivals Chhath.

Delhi BJP president Sachdeva recently took a dip in the black foul-smelling water of the Yamuna and accused AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal of failing to fulfil his promise of cleaning the river by 2025.

In defence, AAP leaders have accused the BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh and Haryana of not checking stubble burning and discharging industrial waste in the Yamuna.

The AAP has dominated the political scene in Delhi for more than a decade, almost obliterating the BJP and the Congress in the Assembly polls.

The party won 67 and 62 seats of 70 in the Assembly polls in Delhi in 2015 and 2020, respectively. While the BJP managed to win three and eight seats in the 2015 and 2020 polls, respectively, the Congress' tally was zero in both polls.