Tarn Taran: The BJP is only scared of the AAP and wants to defame and crush it, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal alleged on Sunday. Addressing an event here to mark the recent acquisition of a power plant by the Punjab government from a private company, he also accused the Centre of withholding Rs 8,000 crore funds of AAP-ruled Punjab.

“Today if the BJP is scared, then it is scared of only one party and that is the AAP (Aam Aadmi Party). The AAP has grown so fast in the country in 10 years. The AAP is a 10-year-old kid. This small party is not letting it (BJP) sleep. We come as demons in their dreams,” Kejriwal said.

He said in a span of 10 years, the AAP has formed governments in Delhi and Punjab, and has MLAs in Gujarat and Goa. 

“Wherever we fight elections, we secure so many votes. Today the BJP is in fear that if they (AAP) continue to grow like this, then there will be an AAP government at the Centre,” Kejriwal said in the presence of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.

“We have one strength and that is honesty with clear intentions. We serve the people. We build schools, hospitals, set electricity right, build roads,” the AAP leader said and claimed that the BJP cannot do such work.

He said the BJP has been running governments for the past many years. “For 30 years, it has been running a government in Gujarat, and for 15 years, in Madhya Pradesh, and they could not set a single school right. They did nothing,” Kejriwal said. He said works that the AAP can undertake, the BJP cannot. “If you have the courage, then do some work,” Kejriwal said. “They want the AAP to be crushed and finished... arrest them (their leaders), defame the AAP. They make new accusations every day,” he alleged.

He also hit out at the BJP government at the Centre on summonses issued to him by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Referring to the arrest of senior AAP leader and former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in the Delhi excise policy scam case, Kejriwal questioned whether his mistake was building good schools.

In BJP-ruled states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, government schools are being shut one by one, Kejriwal alleged. Who is a thief, one who builds schools for the poor or one who shuts them, he asked the gathering. While AAP governments have made electricity free in Delhi and Punjab, it is “very costly” in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, he said.

“They are hell bent upon crushing the AAP,” he said, targeting the BJP and referring to the arrest of AAP leaders Sisodia, Sanjay Singh and Satyendar Jain.

Attacking the BJP-led central government, the AAP national convener accused it of stopping works being undertaken by the AAP governments in Delhi and Punjab. “They do not let us carry out works,” he alleged.

Alleging that the Centre has withheld Rs 8,000 crore funds meant for Punjab, Kejriwal said this amount could have been utilised on building roads and hospitals. “Why are they stopping us?” he asked. 

Stating that last year, the Punjab governor did not allow a session of the assembly, Kejriwal asked, “Why are they stopping the works for Punjab’s people?”. The Centre is also not allowing the AAP government in Delhi to carry out works, he alleged. The people of Delhi have made up their mind that they will ensure the AAP’s victory on all seven parliamentary seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, he said. In the 2019 polls, all the seats in the national capital were won by the BJP.

He also urged the people of Punjab to ensure the AAP’s victory on all 13 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

“...if you give 13 seats in Punjab to the AAP, the hands of Mann sahab will be strengthened. Then the Centre will not dare to stop funds meant for the state,” he said.

Referring to the acquisition of the power plant, Kejriwal said it shows the difference between an honest and a dishonest government. A dishonest government “sells” infrastructure and organisations like LIC, airports, seaports and power companies at meagre prices, he alleged.

This has happened for the first time in 75 years (since independence) that a private power plant has been purchased by any government, Kejriwal said.

If a new plant would have been built, it would have involved an outlay of Rs 5,500 crore. But buying at a cost of Rs 1,100 crore, Rs 4,500 crore has been saved, Kejriwal said while lauding the Mann government. “This power plant was in losses so far. We have made a plan and will turn it profitable,” he asserted.  / DW