AHMEDABAD: “BJP has spent Rs 6,500 crore rupees on buying 277 MLAs, they also tried to
buy Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) MLAs in Delhi, and they offered 20 crores to each. They brought Rs 800 crores to buy MLAs of Delhi," alleged Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Friday.
He is on a two-day Gujarat visit in the run-up to the Assembly elections. He also announced another five guarantees for farmers on Friday while addressing farmers in Devbhumi Dwarka district.
Kejriwal attacked the BJP and Congress, saying "If you want free power and free education, vote for us. If you want corruption and ‘Gundaism’, vote for them."
In yet another pre-poll “guarantee” in Gujarat, Kejriwal announced a five-point manifesto for farmers including loan waivers of Rs 2 lakh for farmers, free electricity for 12 hours during the day, buying crops at the minimum support price (MSP) and compensation of Rs 20,000 per acre of land in case of crop failure was some of the other guarantees announced by Kejriwal.
In his address to farmers Kejriwal said “Though MSP is announced every year, farm produce is not sold at that price. I guarantee that our government will buy at MSP if farmers do not find any other buyer who is willing to buy their produce at that price. We will start with five farm produce such as wheat and paddy, and then add more,”
Kejriwal also said that should AAP come to power, the current land survey will be scrapped and a new survey will be commissioned and the command area of the Narmada Dam will be increased to make sure its benefits reach every corner of the state.
“I learned that farmers in Gujarat get electricity at night to irrigate their fields. If the AAP is voted to power, we will give electricity during the day for 12 hours. We will also cancel the land survey done by this government and order a re-survey” said Kejriwal.
Talking about farmers' issues Kejriwal said in his address that all previous governments in Gujarat had ignored farmers' plight, but he was ready to address the issue. On the lines of Delhi, Gujarat farmers will get a compensation of Rs 20,000 per acre in case of crop loss due to various calamities, he promised.
In his earlier visit to Gujarat, Kejriwal made several pre-poll promises such as free and quality health-care facilities, free education in government schools, free electricity up to 300 units per month, unemployment benefits of Rs 3,000, 10 lakh government jobs, and a monthly allowance of Rs 1,000 for women.