The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi has found a subtle way of getting back at the Narendra Modi regime at the Centre, and more specifically, Union Minister of Urban Development Hardeep Singh Puri, by launching a special COVID-19 vaccination drive for workers employed at the Central Vista project site.
The political messaging of Arvind Kejriwal government's initiative is unmistakable as party leaders say the vaccination drive at the Central Vista project shows that while the Modi government is focusing on revamping New Delhi, it is not concerned about protecting the workers from COVID-19, and it is the AAP dispensation that has thought of the need to vaccinate those working at the Central Vista site.
The Delhi government has opened a vaccination centre for 1,500 workers engaged in construction activities at the Central Vista project site. The inoculation drive is being conducted under the supervision of an adviser to the Delhi government.
The initiative has added yet another layer to the ongoing fight over COVID-19 vaccination between the Centre and the Delhi government with the latter deciding to highlight its attention to the workers of the Central Vista project. The AAP government has, otherwise, not been a strident critic of the revamp measures that have been strongly criticised by the other opposition parties.
The unstated messaging of the Kejriwal government is that while the Modi regime is getting grand buildings constructed, it has not paid attention to the well-being of the workers who are actually building these structures.
While the Centre has been critical of the Delhi government's alleged tardiness in vaccinating the denizens, the latter has claimed that the capital has been discriminated against when it comes to providing vaccines.
Also, when the Centre refused to approve the Delhi government's proposal for doorstep delivery of rations, the AAP government sought to return the favour by putting its own stamp on the COVID-19 vaccination drive by launching an initiative to provide vaccines to the people at their nearest polling stations.
The Central Vista vaccination move also appears to be specifically aimed at hitting back at Union Minister Puri, who has been regularly attacking the Kejriwal government. Puri had, following the June 21 spurt in nationwide vaccination numbers, hit out at Delhi government for its relatively paltry inoculation figures on that day.
“On a day India vaccinated more than 84 lakh people, Delhi administered only 76,259 out of more than 11 lakh doses available. Why?...Instead of focusing on health & welfare of people of Delhi, Kejriwal Ji is busy in Punjab searching for a Sikh CM face for his party.”
Earlier too, Puri had also taken a dig at the Kejriwal government, saying the money spent on its publicity since the beginning of 2021 would end up exceeding the cost of the new Parliament building and the Central Vista avenue. He claimed that the Delhi government had spent Rs 150 crore in the first three months of 2021 on advertisement and publicity.
To this aggression, the Kejriwal government has responded with subtlety.