Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said that he will not contest the Assembly elections in Delhi if the Union government withdrew all cases related to slum demolitions in the national capital and rehabilitated those who had been displaced.

Kejriwal’s statement came a day Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that “throwing out” the Aam Aadmi Party was the only way to ensure the welfare of slum dwellers in Delhi, The Indian Express reported. Bharatiya Janata Party leader Shah urged those living in slums to “liberate Delhi from this disaster [Aam Aam Party]”.

The Assembly elections in Delhi will take place in a single phase on February 5 and the counting of votes will take place on February 8.

Addressing reporters at the Railway Jhuggi Camp in the Shakur Basti constituency on Sunday, Kejriwal said that the BJP remembered those living in slums only at the time of elections.

“We saw recently how BJP leaders spend a night in different slums,” the former chief minister said. “Why didn’t you come here to sleep at night 10 years ago? All this slum tourism is nothing but drama to get votes. The BJP is a party of rich people. They think of slum people as insects.”

Leaders of the Hindutva party have been spending nights in slum clusters in Delhi as part of BJP’s poll campaign.

“Do you think they are spending time here because they love slum residents?” Kejriwal asked. “No, they are showing love because they want votes from you.”

The Aam Aadmi Party chief also claimed that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre, which came to power in 2014, had built only 4,700 houses in Delhi during the period.

“There are 4 lakh slums in Delhi,” Kejriwal said. “If 4,700 houses have been built in the last 10 years, then it will take 1,000 years to provide houses to every slum dweller in Delhi.”

Kejriwal said that the BJP did not want to build houses for those living in slums.

“Within the next five years, the slums of Delhi will be demolished and people will be rendered homeless,” he claimed. “They will be brought onto the streets.”

Kejriwal alleged that Shah had on Saturday called residents of several slums and “abused” him.

“The BJP says ‘jahan jhuggi, wahan makan,”’ Kejriwal said, referring to a scheme launched by the Union government to rehabilitate slum dwellers at the same spot. “We also believe in this scheme.”

But for who will houses be built over slums, Kejriwal asked. “For the residents of the slums? No. Where there are slums will be the house of their [BJP] friends and the builders. Everyone knows who they are,” he added.

He further asked Shah to withdraw all the cases the Union government had filed against the residents of the slums in 24 hours.

“Submit an affidavit in court that you will give houses to all those people on the same land where they lived earlier,” he said. “I will not contest the elections. I give you this challenge, accept it.”

He added: “Otherwise, Kejriwal will not go anywhere, but will fight the elections, win and stand for the slum people like a shield and will not let you demolish their houses.”

The Aam Aadmi Party chief also claimed that the Indian Railways had in September floated a tender to demolish the railway camp slum in Shakur Basti.

“At this railway camp, people think they will get a house under the ‘jahan jhuggi, wahan makan’ scheme, while the BJP already had a detailed plan to clear this area three months ago,” he claimed. “If you vote for them and make them win, they will make you homeless in no less than two months.”

In response to Kejriwal’s claims, however, the railways said that it had not issued any tender for the area, the Hindustan Times reported. “This information is completely misleading,” it said.

“The tender issued on September 25, 2024, for commercial development of Old Rohtak Road was cancelled on November 6, 2024, due to administrative reasons,” the railways added. “This too had no connection with the slum area.”

On its part, the BJP claimed that the past 10 years proved that Kejriwal could only provoke residents of the national capital and not improve their lives, The Indian Express reported.

“You [Kejriwal] have been in power for over a decade,” Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva said. “Please explain what your government, DUSIB [Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board] or any other department has done for the better rehabilitation of slum dwellers.”