BJP remembers Bangladeshi infiltrators during polls and then forgets about them: Cong's Pawan Khera

Mumbai, Jan 12 (PTI) The BJP remembers Bangladeshi infiltrators only during elections and then forgets about them, senior Congress leader Pawan Khera said on Monday.

Addressing a press conference, Khera, the AICC media and public department chairperson, also claimed the BJP-led Mahayuti government was handing over Mumbai's land, industries and wealth to a "Gujarati friend" and looting public money through corruption.

"Whenever polls are around, the BJP remembers Bangladeshis and then forgets about them. Elections are scheduled in West Bengal so the issue has surfaced again," Khera said while responding to a statement by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis that his government would free Mumbai of infiltrators from the eastern country.

If Bangladeshi infiltrators exist in the country, then what are Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah doing, Khera said, adding both should resign on the issue.

"Mumbai's land, industries and money are being handed over. By selling Mumbai's land, the BJP-Shinde Sena has amassed enormous wealth. Mumbai now needs change, and Mumbaikars will teach a lesson to this corrupt Mahayuti in the (January 15 civic) elections," Khera claimed.

Alleging large-scale corruption in Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Khera said citizens are denied basic amenities despite crores of rupees being spent.

Roads are riddled with potholes, drinking water is scarce, monsoon flooding has become routine and pollution levels have worsened, he added.

Khera also accused the government of trying to privatise schools, BEST buses and BMC hospitals, while denying development funds to opposition representatives.

"This money does not belong to Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Home Minister Amit Shah; it belongs to the people," he said while also questioning the delay of local body elections for four years. Most civic corporations are under government-appointed administrators since early 2022 after the five-year tenure of their general bodies ended.

Congress leader Udit Raj, speaking at the press conference, said the party was contesting elections in Mumbai alongside Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi and appealed to voters who followed Dr B R Ambedkar's ideology to support the alliance.

Raj accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of attempting to undermine the Constitution and seeking votes by creating communal divisions.

Civic polls to Mumbai and 28 other municipal corporations will be held on January 15, while votes will be counted the next day. PTI MR BNM