NEW DELHI: In a hard-hitting attack on the AAP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday called it backstabber and asked Delhiites not to repeat the mistake of voting for Arvind Kejriwal-led party and without naming him compared him to ‘an auto driver’.
The PM also referred to the Opposition criticism over BJP leaders raising the successful visit of US President Barack Obama in Delhi poll campaign. He said “Had Obama gone after merely attending the Republic Day Parade and done nothing else, our opponents would have gone to town raising the issue in the polls,” he said.
During his over half-an-hour address at an election rally, Modi sought a clear mandate for the BJP-- which had fallen short of majority in the 2013 polls-- and asserted that his party would provide a clean and stable government which people had never seen in the past, countering AAP’s key election plank.
Modi made fun of the AAP performance in the Lok Sabha elections without directly naming it, saying it had created a world record in forfeiting deposits. “The very people whom you voted for last time stabbed in your back. They shattered your dreams and destroyed Delhi. You gave them a fitting punishment in the Lok Sabha polls. People do not repeat their mistakes again and again,” he said at the rally at Viswash Nagar in East Delhi.
He compared Kejriwal to an auto-driver, who cheats customers after making false promises.“You cannot achieve success by fooling people again and again. They are still telling and misleading people with false promises, this won’t work,” Modi said.
According to the PM, the Delhi election would decide how the country was viewed on the global stage. “There is no better place than Delhi for India’s identity,” Modi said complimenting Kiran Bedi, whose anointment as the party’s Chief Ministerial candidate had ruffled feathers in the Delhi BJP, on her administrative abilities.“She knows Delhi inside out. She has administrative experience and is well-versed with the history and geography of Delhi. She is a woman with strong determination. She will take Delhi to new heights” the Prime Minister said.
Trying to woo the poor and the lower strata of the society, who are seen as the backbone of the AAP’s support base, he said his government has already launched a war on corruption and promised in-situ development of slums.