NEW DELHI: Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari on Wednesday launched a flood relief donation camp for Bihar, where at least 42 people have died in rain-related incidents following a torrential spell that took place between September 27 and 30.
Incidentally, Tiwari is a native of the eastern state. The actor-turned-politician is popular among the people of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
The development comes amid his party’s attack on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal accusing him of “humiliating” people from Bihar and Purvanchal. Kejriwal had claimed that the long queues at Delhi government hospitals were due to patients from other states and cited name of Bihar in this context.
Tiwari hit back accusing Kejriwal of “humiliating” people from other states, including Purvanchalis, the Bhojpuri speaking natives of Bihar and Eastern Uttar Pradesh.
On Wednesday, Bihar continued to trudge towards normalcy with intensified rescue and relief operations and water being pumped out of submerged localities. In Delhi’s politics, the Purvanchalis hold sway accounting for around one-third population of the city as per unconfirmed estimates. With the Assembly elections, scheduled early next year, inching closer, the BJP and the AAP have been making efforts to win over the Purvanchali voters. Tiwari will visit Bihar to hand over the relief material, said Delhi BJP media relations head Neelkant Bakshi.
“Tiwari himself contributed to the fund which will be run through social media and internet to collect fund globally,” Bakshi said.
Later, the Delhi BJP chief spoke to a news agency appealing the people to contribute towards relief work for helping those in distress. Former AAP MLA Kapil Mishra, who recently joined the BJP, will oversee the fund collection with the help of an aide. With agency inputs