Claiming that no party in India’s history has been harassed as much as Aam Aadmi Party, former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal hailed the “resilience” of AAP leaders and workers and urged them to redouble their efforts to win all 70 seats in the assembly elections due early next year.
The AAP National Convenor said this while addressing a gathering of the party’s Mandal-level office bearers on Saturday in Delhi’s Pitampura.
He emphasized that the stakes for Delhi’s future are higher than ever, asserting that the BJP aims to “dismantle the progress made under AAP’s governance.”
At the event, Kejriwal expressed optimism about the AAP’s ability to secure a larger mandate than in the previous elections. He called for unity within the party, leaving no room for internal conflicts.
The event also saw the presence of senior AAP leaders and former ministers Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain, CM Atishi, Rajya Sabha MPs Sandeep Pathak & Sanjay Singh, AAP Delhi convenor Gopal Rai along with all the state vice presidents, Mandal incharges, Mandal presidents and ‘Sangathan Mantris’.
The partymen also accorded a hero’s welcome to Satyendar Jain, who met all the workers for the first time after getting bail yesterday. He was in jail for around two years over “money laundering” through multiple firms allegedly linked to him.The party workers enthusiastically gave him a standing ovation, while senior leaders garlanded him on the stage.
The AAP National Convener urged the party workers to approach the next Delhi assembly elections with the same zeal and patriotism as freedom fighters.
He drew parallels between the next assembly election and India’s freedom struggle, invoking the names of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev, and Subhas Chandra Bose. “If Bhagat Singh had worked part-time, if Rajguru, Sukhdev, Ashfaqulla Khan had worked part-time, if Subhas Chandra Bose, Babasaheb Ambedkar, or Gandhiji had given only half a day to this, our country wouldn’t have gained independence. This is the second fight for freedom.”
” And in this second fight for freedom, I am proud that our people have gone to jail and come out. I am not worried about whether we come into power or not. My concern is, if we don’t win, what will happen to these schools?”
Kejriwal accused the BJP of attempting to sabotage the progress made in Delhi over the past decade through “orchestrated disruptions”, including legal actions against key AAP leaders and “administrative roadblocks” by the Lieutenant Governor’s office.
“When they put all of us–me, Satyendar Jain, Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh, Vijay Nair, Vibhav, and others–in jail, their aim was to break the party. But the party remained united, and the biggest reason for that is all of you–our workers, our Mandal Prabharis, our Vidhan Sabha in-charges, our MLAs, and all the office bearers of our party. You all are responsible for the party standing so strong today,” he said.
In a scathing critique of the BJP’s governance, Kejriwal remarked, “Perhaps no party in India’s history has been harassed as much as we have been by these individuals. People come to me and tell me about the state of things–they’ve made a mess everywhere, left garbage all over, stopped road repairs, let the sewage overflow, halted its maintenance and cleaning.”
‘In some areas, our MLAs and workers have told me they have even dumped cement bags into the sewers to block them. Who does that? Who ruins their own city, their own country? Only traitors, those who betray their nation, do such things–things that even an enemy of the country would do. How can someone who claims to be a patriot harm their own country like this? Such dirty politics!” he added further.
He went on to outline how various schemes, such as the Farishtey Scheme for accident victims and the free healthcare initiative, were “stalled” by the BJP in the past year, only to be restarted by AAP.
He claimed that the BJP aimed to dismantle every work the AAP had done in the past five years,because their government in 22 states is being “questioned.”
When I went to campaign in Gujarat, people asked the BJP, ‘Kejriwal has given free electricity in Delhi and Punjab, why did you not do it here?’ In Madhya Pradesh, people asked, ‘Why not free electricity, bus rides for women, and good roads here?’ These questions are rising across the country. So, their goal is to halt our work in Delhi so that these questions don’t spread,” he said.
He further criticized the BJP’s “divisive politics,” calling it a betrayal of national interest.
He claimed that,”For the first time, a party has set an example of governance in the form of AAP. What we have accomplished in education, healthcare, electricity, water, bus travel, teerth, pensions, roads–no other party has done this in the history of India.”
Someone asked me, “Arvind, what will happen to you if you don’t win the election?” I said, That’s not the question. The question is, what will happen to you? What will happen to your family if the Aam Aadmi Party doesn’t win? If we don’t win, electricity rates will increase again. If the Aam Aadmi Party doesn’t come to power, we’ll have to fast again because electricity rates will rise again. Your roads will break again. Your water will become impure again. Your water bills will skyrocket. Delhi used to experience eight-hour power cuts,” he claimed
“In 22 states where the BJP is in power, not a single state has 24-hour electricity. Ask Uttar Pradesh, go to nearby Ghaziabad–do they get 24-hour electricity? No. But Delhi does. So, Delhi will return to the same situation. This election is about saving Delhi,” the AAP convenor said.
On a concluding note, he talked about the open letter he has written to the people of Delhi, outlining the stakes of the upcoming election and urging citizens to continue supporting AAP’s vision for the city.
“Now, we need to deliver this letter to every household. Starting tomorrow, from the 20th to the 29th, you have to distribute this letter to every house and shop in Delhi. Train your teams.
Sandeep Pathak will tell you how to train, how to distribute, and what to do. I am confident that this time we should get two more seats than last time, not two less,” he said.
Manish Sisodia also addressed the partymen and said, the BJP attempted to break the AAP by jailing “Me, Arvind Kejriwal, and Satyendar Jain” but failed to “weaken the spirit of ground volunteers”.
Delhi Chief Minister Atishi also said that the BJP tried to destroy the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) by arresting its leaders like Satyendar Jain, Manish Sisodia, and Sanjay Singh.
She said,”We all have to work together to make Arvind Kejriwal the Chief Minister of Delhi for the fourth time.”
Delhi minister Gopal Rai said the BJP thought AAP leaders are like “Abhimanyu who’d fall in their traps; but Arvind Kejriwal turned out to be Arjun.
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(With inputs from ANI)
