The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday exposed the “manufactured crowd” at PM Narendra Modi’s Delhi rally. The AAP pointed out when citizens stayed away, the BJP government forced MCD sanitation workers and teachers into buses under the guise of duty. Sharing videos of protesting employees, Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Delhi Assembly Atishi said that workers were intimidated and forced to attend against their will, declaring it a blatant abuse of power and a disgraceful misuse of those tasked with keeping the city clean.
Senior AAP leader and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Delhi Assembly, Atishi, wrote on X: “On Sunday morning, our poor Dalit sanitation workers in Delhi were called in the name of duty. Now they are being packed into buses and taken to PM Modi’s rally. This is the real face of the BJP. The BJP government is not taking work from poor Dalit sanitation workers, it is making them do politics. They are being called on the pretext of duty, made to sit in buses, and sent to rallies.”
Sharing videos of sanitation workers being rounded up from Seemapuri, Janakpuri, Laxmi Nagar and other areas, Atishi said, “BJP called these employees on their day off, but not for cleaning. They were called to be taken to BJP’s rally. BJP has turned sanitation workers into its ‘political workers.’ BJP must answer—by what right were sanitation workers, called in the name of duty on Sunday, sent to a rally? Is it MCD’s job to fill crowds at Modi ji’s rally? Busloads of sanitation workers are being sent to PM’s rally. What law allows BJP to pull government employees from their weekly off to attend its political events?”
Atishi further stated, “The BJP government is now using government employees as crowd fillers. Those hired to clean the city are being sent to swell rally crowds. This is BJP’s cheap politics. BJP is openly insulting Dalit sanitation workers. Forcing them under the guise of work and sending them to rallies is illegal and inhuman. MCD Commissioner Ashwini Kumar should also face action. Calling sanitation workers on Sunday under the name of duty and sending them to a rally is a blatant misuse of government and power. BJP has deceived the people of Delhi as well.”
From Janakpuri Ward No. 105, MCD Councillor Praveen Kumar shared a video, saying: “Sunday is a day of rest for sanitation workers. Yet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP are forcibly taking them to rallies. This clearly shows that the so-called four-engine government doesn’t even have its own workers to gather crowds.”
From Daryaganj Ward No. 142, AAP Councillor and Delhi Women’s Wing President Sarika Chaudhary said, “Under BJP’s rule, the situation has come to this—that government employees are being summoned to attend political rallies. AAP never called them in this manner. People are unwilling to attend BJP’s rallies. BJP has demolished jhuggis at several places, leaving residents distressed. To gather crowds, BJP is dragging along MCD teachers, sanitation workers, and ASHA workers.”
AAP’s Youth Wing Vice President of Delhi State, Mukesh Kumar, wrote on X: “All Delhi government employees are being forced with orders to attend the rally. BJP may be able to snatch votes through machines, but where will they bring people from? Today is Sunday—a day when employees rest after working the whole week. Yet everyone has been pushed into attending the rally. This is BJP’s rally, not a government rally.” Similarly, several AAP leaders shared videos from different areas, showing MCD workers being stuffed into buses and driven to the rally.
Meanwhile, MCD employees themselves have spoken out, calling it wrong to be sent to PM Modi’s rally under the pretext of duty. Workers pointed out that they get only one holiday in the week—Sunday. On this day, they complete household chores and get some rest. But they were still summoned on Sunday and forced into buses for PM Modi’s rally. One employee revealed that his pregnant wife is due for delivery, yet he was threatened with dismissal if he refused to go. Employees were intimidated and forced into buses, with threats issued if they protested. A woman sanitation worker shared that she was fasting on Krishna Janmashtami, broke her fast late at night, yet was summoned the next morning despite Sunday being her day off. She said their attendance wasn’t even being marked for that day, yet they were still forced to come—and had no idea they were being sent to a rally.
