Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said his party will contest all the 90 assembly seats in Haryana on its own, but the Lok Sabha polls will be fought as part of the INDIA bloc.
“Today people only have trust in one party, which is AAP. On one side, they see Punjab, and on the other, our government in Delhi. Today Haryana is seeking a big change. In Delhi and Punjab, people made this big change earlier and now people there are happy,” he said at his party’s ‘Badlaav Jansabha’ in Haryana’s Jind.
Kejriwal’s announcement comes days after the AAP, a constituent of the INDIA block, made it clear that party will not have any alliance with Congress in Punjab for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. “AAP will contest on all 90 seats and we will form the next government in Haryana and make it the number 1 state in the country,” he said. Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann was also present at the event. Kejriwal said Haryana is looking for a “big change” as the people of the state are “fed up” with all the parties that have ruled here.
They have tested all the other parties and these parties have only filled their coffers, the AAP national convener alleged, he added.
Only the AAP can provide round-the-clock power supply and other facilities to people as it has done in Delhi and Punjab, he said.
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“Can the Congress, the BJP and the JJP do this? They cannot. Only the AAP can do this,” Kejriwal said.
Kejriwal also slammed the Union government and alleged that BJP leaders want to put him behind bars as his government in Delhi has transformed the education and health sectors.
“Manish Sisodia and Satyendra Jain were sent to jail because they had transformed the education and health sectors in Delhi. The BJP wants to put me behind bars because I am honest. If I had given money to the BJP, they would have called me honest. I belong to Haryana and we people don’t bow down before anyone,” he added.
The Delhi CM further said that he is ready to quit politics if the BJP can implement his five promises — equal education for all children, health facilities for all sections of society, free electricity to poor families, reduced inflation and employment for every educated youth.
“I have not entered into politics to become the chief minister or anything else. If the BJP can fix these five issues, I will quit politics. If they fail to do so, I will fulfil these promises. Punjab and Delhi residents are getting free electricity because AAP has been ruling these states and Haryana people are getting expensive electricity bills,” he added.
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Kejriwal said that he is an educated leader and he knows how the BJP-JJP government is fleecing Haryana residents.
“I was an engineer and I know why you people are getting costly electricity and fuel. The electricity companies and fuel businesses are run by the friends of the Prime Minister and they are looting people. The inflation can be reduced but the Union government has no plan to do so,” he added.
Slams Khattar for sending youth to Israel for jobs
In a direct attack on Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar, Kejriwal said the Haryana CM has failed to give jobs to the youth and now he is sending them to war-torn Israel. “There is a war-like situation in Israel and I was very pained after seeing the Haryana government holding recruitment drives to send youths there. If CM Khattar can’t ensure jobs for the youth, he has no right to remain at the helm of CM’s chair. Our government in Punjab has given jobs to 42,000 youth in the last 18 months,” Delhi chief minister Kejriwal added.
Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann also attacked Centre and the BJP-JJP government in Haryana. “We have opened 700 ‘mohalla clinics’ in Punjab and treated 90 lakh people so far. The people of Haryana will oust the BJP-JJP government and bring the AAP government in the next polls,” Mann added.
