The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) stood firm in solidarity with villagers in Delhi’s Ghoga to denounce the arrest of Ravish, a local resident who uprooted a “fake inauguration” board, as AAP Delhi Unit President Saurabh Bharadwaj and MLA Sanjeev Jha joined a village panchayat there on Monday. The AAP Delhi unit chief charged the BJP government with paper-only development, noting that a tender worth ₹1.5–2 crore was shown as spent without even a foundation stone being laid.
Saurabh Bharadwaj said that the BJP-ruled Delhi government is carrying out a vindictive action against villagers. He pointed out that a local resident, Ravish, was arrested and an FIR was lodged against him after he exposed the government’s false inauguration of a development project. Extending his full support to the villagers, the AAP Delhi unit chief declared that the AAP will raise this issue forcefully. Several villagers, AAP councillors and MLAs were present at the panchayat.
Senior AAP leader and Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj recounted the case of Ravish. He said, “Party karyakartas had informed him that Ravish was a BJP supporter, but that makes no difference to me. The issue he raised is one every villager should have raised.” He clarified that the funds meant for the village do not belong to the government but to the Gram Sabha, which had been accumulating over the years. In 2023–24, the DDA (Delhi Development Authority) wrongfully took away the Gram Sabha funds of all villages.
The Delhi Unit Chief pointed out that the DDA brought villages under its control, leading to disputes over community spaces such as chaupals, roads and vacant lands, and that hundreds of crores of rupees belonging to the Gram Sabha now lie with the DDA.
Saurabh Bharadwaj said the DDA had promised to use this money for constructing chaupals, cremation grounds and roads, but instead “inauguration” boards were put up even though no development work had been done. “An inauguration is done after work is completed. Here, it seems a tender worth one-and-a-half to two crore rupees was shown as spent only on paper. This is open theft,” he charged.
Saurabh Bharadwaj asserted that the government assumed villagers were simple and dependent on rental income and would not question such actions. “But Ravish exposed the BJP’s theft by making a video and bravely uprooted the board with a hammer. This was the right step, and for that the government got him arrested,” he said.
Highlighting ‘goondagardi’ of the BJP-led Centre’s Delhi Police, Saurabh Bharadwaj recounted what Ravish’s mother had told him: “The police entered the village and dragged Ravish away while he was sitting in his underclothes.” He warned, “If the police commit injustice in any Delhi village, all villagers should sit on the road to block their way. Do not allow police rule in your village.”
Addressing the SHO and DCP, he said, “Governments do not last forever, but Ravish and I will remember your names.” Saurabh Bharadwaj advised villagers that in such situations they should sit peacefully on the road and record videos without confronting the police.
According to Ravish’s mother, the police switched off the CCTV cameras and stole the DVR—a move Saurabh Bharadwaj declared as “the work of thieves.” He added, “They should have shown a warrant. They could have called him to the police station and granted bail, but this was a conspiracy to crush self-respect.”
“The BJP’s police took a man away in his underclothes, but we will not be intimidated,” Saurabh Bharadwaj declared. “Wherever a false board is put up, I will personally search for it and uproot it. Ravish’s effort will not go in vain. After watching his video, people like Ravish will emerge in every village to uproot such boards.”
Saurabh Bharadwaj also narrated his conversations with villagers, saying, “Ravish’s house is on the village boundary, which allowed the police to take him away quietly. Had it been in the centre, the villagers would not have let them. I bow to the entire village, because many people retreat out of fear of cases. Today, even Hari Om ji was threatened that he would also be taken away. But we will not be afraid, and the panchayat will happen.”
Paying tribute to the courage of Ghoga residents, elders, mothers, and especially Ravish’s mother, Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “I salute Ravish’s mother, who stood like a lioness. Often families ask for compromise, but a son nurtured on the milk of such a lioness does not fear anyone.”
The AAP Delhi unit chief concluded by reiterating that the Aam Aadmi Party will continue to expose the BJP government’s fake development claims and stand firmly with Delhi’s villagers against injustice.
