The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday held Delhi’s BJP-led “four-engine” government squarely responsible for the capital’s repeated flooding and the rising death toll during the monsoon, demanding the resignation of PWD Minister Parvesh Verma. Even a brief spell of rain left Daryaganj, APS Colony, Chhatarpur, Greater Kailash, Dhaula Kuan, Outer Ring Road, and nearly every corner of the city waterlogged, prompting AAP leaders to question the government’s utter lack of preparedness.
The outrage intensified after a biker was crushed to death when a tree fell on Hansraj Sethi Marg in South Delhi, with AAP declaring that the BJP government’s failures have now turned deadly for Delhiites.
AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal, expressing deep sorrow over the latest incidents, shared a video of the tragedy on X, remarking: “In just a few months, see what the BJP has done to Delhi.”
AAP Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj, sharing a video on X of a biker crushed to death by a falling tree, stated: “In South Delhi’s Hansraj Sethi Marg, heavy rain caused a tree to fall, instantly killing a helpless biker. So far, around two dozen people have lost their lives due to heavy rains. But the BJP government is unmoved. Every rainfall brings more deaths. On Rakhi, sisters kept waiting for their 2.5-year-old brother, who tragically died after falling into an open sewer manhole. Will this Delhi government ever wake up? In another video from Greater Kailash, a man was seen rowing a boat on flooded streets. This is what the ‘four-engine’ government has brought us. This is precisely why, despite High Court orders, the BJP’s four-engine government is running away from third-party audits of desilting contracts.”
MCD LoP Ankush Narang wrote on X: “Despite the complete planning and so-called proper management of BJP’s CM Rekha Gupta and Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh, Delhi is submerged; the entire city is drowning.” In another post, he reiterated: “This is the result of their complete planning and proper management—waterlogging across the entire city.”
Addressing a press conference, AAP MLA Sanjeev Jha said, “After BJP formed the government in Delhi, CM Rekha Gupta and her cabinet ministers boasted repeatedly. In multiple press conferences and press releases, they claimed that all waterlogging spots in Delhi had been identified and there would be no waterlogging this monsoon. But today’s rains have once again crippled the city. Streets have turned into rivers, and people are forced to row boats to move around.”
Sanjeev Jha added, “BJP claimed that a double-engine government would solve all of Delhi’s problems. Now, who knows how many engines this government has, but the rains have washed away all their claims. Since May, over two dozen people have lost their lives in rain-related incidents. In the last spell of rain, eight people died in Jaitpur, Badarpur, when a wall collapsed. This time, in Kalkaji, a man died after a tree fell on him. On Raksha Bandhan, a 2.5-year-old child fell into an open manhole and died. On May 25, in Kalkaji again, a 9-year-old child was electrocuted to death because an electricity panel was left open.”
He questioned, “Is the BJP government—busy making Instagram reels—going to take any accountability for these deaths? Delhi’s PWD Minister Parvesh Verma makes reels daily, but the families who have lost loved ones because of the government’s failures deserve justice. The main reason behind these tragedies is that, despite tall claims, the city’s drains were never cleaned. The Delhi High Court had ordered a third-party audit of drain cleaning, but it was never done. I can say with certainty that more than half of Delhi’s drains have not been cleaned.”
Sanjeev Jha pointed out that in his Burari constituency, “Drain cleaning by the PWD and the Flood Control & Irrigation Department has been nothing short of a joke. Earlier, super sucker machines were used for drain cleaning. This time, not a single one was deployed. When I inspected my constituency on Wednesday and asked officials why no super sucker was used, they told me that no permission was granted this year. If that is the case, why shouldn’t PWD Minister Parvesh Verma be held responsible for these deaths?”
Sanjeev Jha concluded by stating, “Why should the people of Delhi pay the price for the failures of CM Rekha Gupta and her cabinet? The AAP demands that CM Rekha Gupta immediately sack PWD Minister Parvesh Verma, who also heads the Flood Control Department. His failures have led to severe waterlogging after even light rainfall and caused over two dozen deaths. If negligence on his part is costing people their lives, he has no right to remain a minister.”
