Arvind Kejriwal urges people to reject BJP to save free schemes, party retorts

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has “honestly” served the people of Delhi for 10 years, doing a lot of work that no other dispensation in the country had done, party chief Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday.
The former Delhi Chief Minister, who was taking part in a ‘padayatra’ (foot march) campaign ahead of the Assembly polls scheduled early next year, also asked the public not to vote for the BJP.
“If you vote for the BJP, you will have to see whether to pay your bills or care for your children,” Kejriwal said.
Hitting back at the AAP chief, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva claimed that Kejriwal knows that his party will lose the upcoming elections and that is why he was creating a “fear psychosis” in the minds of the people about his government’s schemes.
Kejriwal also alleged that if AAP came to power in Delhi, the BJP would stop the Delhi government’s free schemes for electricity, healthcare, education and bus rides for women.
“Zero electricity bills have become the norm for Delhiites now, something no other state can boast of,” he said, claiming that before the AAP came to power, electricity bills often reached as high as Rs 10,000.
Responding to the charge, Sachdeva said, “We have reiterated that power subsidy will not only continue, but the benefits will reach the middle-class consumers too. We will also ensure clean water supply for all the residents of Delhi.”
Promising that he would waive “inflated” water bills, Kejriwal urged the people to vote for the AAP and help him become the Chief Minister again.
“The elections are due in February. I will get these (‘inflated’ water) bills waived in March after coming to power,” he said.
People need to support AAP’s efforts to build a Delhi that is inclusive, efficient and progressive, he said.
Reacting to the remarks, Sachdeva said AAP leaders like Kejriwal know very well that they have lost connect with the people of Delhi.
“It is really shameful that at the fag end of his government’s tenure, Kejriwal has to plead every day that ‘we are repairing roads and sewers’. This is an admission of the fact that no work was done in Delhi for more than nine years,” the BJP leader said.