BENGALURU: Hitting out at the BJP, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal expressed confidence that his party would win the upcoming elections to the Delhi Assembly. He was speaking at a fundraising programme organised by AAP in the city on Sunday.
“I want to convey the message that New Delhi is ours. We will win by a huge margin and there is no question about it. In fact, the BJP is scared of AAP. At the BJP rally that was held at the Ramlila Maidan, they expected a lakh people to show up. However, according to media reports around 30,000-40,000 people attended the rally. This proves that the connection and trust that the BJP had with the public is now broken,” the former Delhi chief minister said.
Responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement about Kejriwal being an anarchist and that he should be sent to a jungle to live with the Naxals, the latter said, “Name-calling is not politics.”
“Though he (Modi) called me names, not one word was uttered about my stint as Delhi chief minister. Hence, even they (BJP) believe that I have done good work. Modi spoke about BJP’s achievements in the last seven months (at the Centre). However, they only spoke about opening bank accounts for everyone, as that is their only achievement,” he added.
Reiterating the charge that BJP’s election campaign is being funded by Ambanis and Adanis, Kejriwal said the industrialists are doing this as they think it is an investment.
“When this happens, elected representative will not be able to mingle with the masses, and are instead, confined to the company of those who fund the party’s activities. I want to state that nobody will be able to influence AAP as we are funded by public money, which is clean and legal. In fact, a recent pre-poll survey has indicated that the AAP is ahead of the BJP,” he said.
Stating that the AAP will root out corruption in five years, Kejriwal said that during his short stint as Delhi CM, he had instilled fear in the minds of corrupt officials.
“People say corruption is steeped in the country, and that it runs in our blood. I don’t think so. We closed the concept of bribery in New Delhi when AAP was in power. Modi says that he has removed bribery and corruption at the highest-level. This has taken him seven months. For him to reach the lower levels, I am sure it will take 20 years,” he added.
The Aam Aadmi Party also organised the ‘Lunch with Kejriwal’ initiative in the city on Sunday, which attracted around 200 registrations. Priced at `20,000 per person, the initiative aimed at collecting funds for the party’s Delhi election campaign. Karnataka is the top donor for AAP in the country.
Speaking to Express, AAP worker Vikas said the intention of the initiative was not to dine with Kejriwal, but to show their support to him for the Delhi polls.
“Of the 200 registrations, only two or three people did not turn up. The menu consisted of mainly south Indian cuisine, and the response was great,” Vikas said.The funds donated to the party were still being counted, and full details will be revealed soon, he said.