Delhi AAP chief Saurabh Bharadwaj attacks BJP over Rohini slum fire, BJP hits back

New Delhi: Delhi AAP chief Saurabh Bharadwaj on Monday sought to corner the ruling BJP, alleging various shortcomings in responding to the fire in Rohini slum that led to the deaths of two children on Sunday.

The BJP hit back at Bharadwaj, accusing him of "aggravating" the situation through "provocative" claim in a post on X.

Bharadwaj said that 400 'jhuggis' were "reduced to ashes" in Rohini in which children died but the BJP leaders, including Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and local MLA and Minister Ravinder Indraj, did not go there.

He also alleged delay in response by the fire and police departments and asked what action was taken against them.

"Local residents claim the fire was deliberately set and the land mafia wants to seize the land of the jhuggi settlement," he said in a statement.

The Delhi BJP said that local MP Yogendra Chandolia and Minister Ravindra Indraj Singh met the fire-affected slum dwellers in Bawana and ensured relief was provided to them.

"While our local BJP leaders and workers were reaching out with help to the affected people, leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party were making provocative statements like 'many children died' in the fire, on the social media platform X, trying to aggravate the situation," Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva charged.

The Delhi BJP president said that due to strong winds throughout the day, the fire spread rapidly, destroying nearly 800 makeshift huts and tragically claimed the lives of two children.

Chief Minister Rekha Gupta is personally monitoring the situation and ensuring that all affected families receive timely aid and rehabilitation, he said.

It is "extremely unfortunate" that AAP leaders have been engaging in "petty political commentary" since Sunday over the fire incident in the Bawana Assembly constituency's slum cluster in Rohini, he added.