Pravesh Wahi: RSS roots to Delhi mayor's office

I joined the RSS when I was 10 years old, Wahi said, adding that he later served in the VHP till the late 1990s. Wahi was first elected a councillor in 2007 and has since served multiple terms, including stints as chairman of the Rohini zonal committee and later the standing committee in the erstwhile North Corporation.

Newly elected Delhi Mayor Pravesh Wahi, a three-term councillor with a long organisational background in the BJP and the RSS, has outlined cleanliness and waterlogging as his immediate priorities after taking charge as the city's mayor. According to Wahi, his association with public life began early through the RSS and later, he joined the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). ''I joined the RSS when I was 10 years old,'' Wahi said, adding that he later served in the VHP till the late 1990s. He said he formally joined the BJP in 2002. ''I rose through the party ranks, holding organisational roles before entering electoral politics,'' he said. Wahi was first elected a councillor in 2007 and has since served multiple terms, including stints as chairman of the Rohini zonal committee and later the standing committee in the erstwhile North Corporation. '' I was first elected councillor in 2007 from Rohini, then Naharpur, and served a second term from 2012 to 2017,'' he said. Educated in Delhi, Wahi studied at an MCD school in Old Delhi. ''I come from a non-political family background,'' he said, adding, ''although one of my uncles introduced me to the RSS and its daily activities. That's how I joined Sangh.'' During his tenure, Wahi also held key positions, including chairman of the Rohini zonal committee between 2010 and 2012 and chairman of the standing committee in the erstwhile North Corporation from 2016 to 2017. Wahi, who belongs to a Punjabi Khatri family with roots in Rawalpindi (Pakistan), said improving sanitation across markets, residential areas and public spaces would be his primary focus. Door-to-door garbage collection and waste segregation are key challenges for the MCD, Wahi said, adding that private participation was being brought in to ease the burden on landfill sites. He acknowledged that overlapping responsibilities among agencies had led to confusion in the past but said steps were being taken to address the issue. Referring to the long-pending task of clearing garbage dumps, Wahi said, ''Progress had been slow earlier, but work is now picking up pace.'' He said there was no shortage of funds from the Delhi government and stressed that coordination between different levels of governance remained key to addressing civic concerns. Calling for constructive functioning of the House, Wahi said elected representatives must raise public issues and participate in debates to improve governance.