The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) slammed the BJP on Wednesday after a worker died while cleaning a sewer in Ashok Vihar, with senior leader Kuldeep Kumar calling out the ruling party for being busy celebrating Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday while showing no regard for the lives of Dalits and workers. The AAP MLA said that due to the negligence of officials, three workers were forced into the sewer—one lost his life and two are critically ill—yet no one has come forward to take responsibility.
Drawing a contrast, he noted that only Arvind Kejriwal’s government had ever stood with such families, providing them with sewer-cleaning machines to become entrepreneurs. AAP has demanded action against the guilty officials, ₹1 crore compensation for the deceased worker’s family, and a government job for one dependent.
Addressing a press conference at the AAP headquarters on Thursday, senior AAP leader and Kondli MLA Kuldeep Kumar said, “On September 17, PM Narendra Modi’s birthday, newspapers across the country were filled with advertisements from BJP-ruled states congratulating him. But in those very papers, a small report also appeared which the Delhi BJP government conveniently ignored. That unfortunate report was about the death of a 40-year-old man who suffocated inside a sewer in Delhi.”
The AAP MLA said it is shameful that even after 78 years of independence, workers are still dying inside sewers in the national capital. “This incident happened in Ashok Vihar, where PM Modi had boasted during elections. To grab votes, the BJP hurriedly finished sewer line work under the slogan ‘Jahan jhuggi, wahan makaan.’ Because the work was left incomplete, three workers were forced into the sewer in the dead of night. One 40-year-old worker lost his life, while two others are now battling between life and death in hospital,” he said.
He added, “While this tragedy unfolded, Delhi’s BJP government, CM Rekha Gupta, and her ministers were busy celebrating Modi’s birthday. They do not care about the pain or suffering of poor Dalit workers because no one from their families has ever died in a sewer. A sanitation worker, lured by a few rupees and neglected by officials, drowned in toxic gases inside the sewer. He died, but there is no headline, no accountability, and no one to ask questions.”
Kuldeep Kumar contrasted this with the work done by the Arvind Kejriwal government: “Arvind Kejriwal’s government understood the pain of sewer workers’ families. We procured sewer-cleaning machines for Delhi. We arranged through the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) that all sewer work would be done by machines, not by workers. For families who had lost their loved ones in past years, we handed over those machines free of cost, making them entrepreneurs. Now those families are earning ₹50,000 to ₹60,000 per month. This was the work of the Arvind Kejriwal government.”
He said that the situation under the BJP was the opposite. “In Rekha Gupta’s BJP government, no one even bothers to ask questions. A sanitation worker was pushed into the massive Delhi Development Authority (DDA) sewer line. Who will look after his small children now? This government is anti-Dalit. The BJP has no plan for Dalit upliftment. The life of a worker means nothing to them. Till now, there has been no statement from CM Rekha Gupta or any BJP minister. Nor has the victim’s family received any assistance. Even the treatment of the critically injured workers has not been taken up. Thus, a 40-year-old man named Arvind lost his life.”
Kuldeep Kumar added, “The BJP government is consumed by power. If PM Modi finds some time after his birthday celebrations, he should at least look once at this family, which lost its son, father, and breadwinner because of administrative negligence, DDA’s failures, DJB’s lapses, and the BJP’s misgovernance.”
Concluding with a demand, the AAP MLA said, “AAP demands immediate action against those officials who forced the worker into the sewer without safety equipment. Delhi Police must file murder charges against them so that such tragedies stop. The Delhi government must immediately provide ₹1 crore compensation to the deceased worker’s family and a government job to one dependent.”
