‘Tiwariji did not lecture us, he sang bhajans and songs’

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AUTORICKSHAW DRIVER AND RESIDENT SLUM, IN The BJP’S Poorvanchali face and newly appointed Delhi chief Manoj Tiwari has announced that he will be spending a night in jhuggi jhopdi clusters of each parliamentary seat in the Capital, to understand their problems. A large chunk of the population in these clusters is from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, where Tiwari is a big Bhojpuri film star. On New Year’s eve, Tiwari spent the night at Kumar’s slum:

How long have you been staying in this slum, and has anything changed here in this time? I have been living here for 20 years. Over the years, pucca roads have been built here, toilets made, drains laid. The earlier Congress MLA helped.

What do you think of Manoj Tiwari staying in your JJ cluster, especially ahead of municipal polls? I thank him for making our New Year’s eve special. Unlike other politicians, he did not lecture us on issues, instead he sang a few bhajans and songs before he went to sleep. Even our MLA from the Aam Aadmi Party forgot us after winning. We face so many problems but no other politician from any party has ever come to take stock of our woes, or stayed with us. In the morning, Tiwariji made tea for everyone in the house he was staying in... We did not think he was playing politics. He did not have the airs of a politician and spoke to us in our language. He even asked his guards to stay away. He is one of us.

What are the problems you shared with him? We have approximately 17 toilets for around 1,500 to 2,000 people, but none of them has any water. The drains are clogged, there is no cleanliness, no sewerage system, and there is only one tap from for water. He has promised to write to the Chief Minister. Tiwariji too used the same dirty, water-less toilet we use.

What do you think of Tiwari’s plan to distribute a laddoo to each Delhi household, as thanks for ‘showing patience’ during the demonetisation drive, which he had to drop? I don’t know of any such plan. We haven’t suffered much due to demonetisation. During his stay, Tiwariji showed us how to download Paytm and use it for our daily needs.

Can a politician staying for a night things? Yes, one-night stay is not enough, but officials have shown some action since his visit. This morning, they came to unclog toilet drains. We would like to meet Tiwariji more frequently. PRAGYA KAUSHIKA

Chaitanya Kumar has been staying in this slum for 20 years