New Delhi: Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh on Wednesday accused the BJP of not having any roadmap for the development of Delhi. It was for this reason, he said, the saffron party was resorting to slander and abusing chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. The AAP also lodged a complaint during the day against West Delhi BJP MP Parvesh Verma for calling Kejriwal a “terrorist”.
Singh accused BJP of continuously using objectionable language against AAP leaders, saying, “Its leaders have realised that they will not be able to win this election against the AAP. Therefore, they are nervous and losing their senses.”
‘Kejriwal government fulfilled all promises’
It was because of this, Singh charged that “Verma made highly objectionable and insulting remarks about Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal”. He claimed that Kejriwal was the first leader in the 70-year history of India to fulfil all the promises that the party made to the people.
Singh said the CM oversaw the construction of 20,000 new classrooms in schools, completely reformed the education sector and established mohalla clinics. “And yet,” he lamented, “he is being called a terrorist”.
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Among the other achievements of AAP, Singh said was the Farishtey Yojana for the road accident victims and Good Samaritan Law and the Teerth Yatra Scheme for senior citizens.
The AAP MP also said it was Kejriwal who announced an assistance of Rs 1 crore to the families of martyrs and who introduced Rs 50,000 per hectare compensation to farmers for crop loss.
BJP Union ministers campaign for candidates
Meanwhile, a number of senior leaders and ministers from BJP campaigned for the party candidates on Wednesday.
Among them was Union minister Smriti Irani, who campaigned for Delhi Sadar candidate Jaiprakash. Addressing a street corner meeting, Irani accused the Kejriwal government of not working for 57 months and then making a string of announcements in the last three months of its tenure.
She also accused the AAP government of placing hurdles in the Nirbhaya case. Commenting on the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) protest, she said: “The opposition was earlier anti-Hindu, but after the CAA it has become clear that it is also against Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains.” She also accused AAP and Congress of creating “anarchy” in Delhi by “orchestrating” protests against CAA.
“During the protests at Jamia and JNU, the Delhi government instead of issuing appeals for peace, instigated the protesters. The AAP MLA himself delivered speeches to instigate the crowds and some Congress leaders too played a similar role,” she said.
Ministers recall work done by Centre for Delhi
Another Union minister, Nitin Gadkari, while addressing an election rally in Seelampur, claimed that during the last five years his road and surface transport ministry spent nearly Rs 70,000 crore on development projects in Delhi. He said these projects included the Eastern and Western Peripheral Express, which he said eased congestion in Delhi.
Union urban development minister Hardeep Puri came out in support of BJP’s Deoli candidate and said residents of unauthorised colonies have been given ownership rights by the Narendra Modi government. The scheme, he said, would benefit nearly 40 lakh residents of these colonies.
Puri said the Delhi Development Authority has also started the process of providing conveyance deeds to residents of these colonies so that the residents have proper documents with them.
SAD to support BJP candidates
In another development, the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP alliance, which snapped in Delhi as the two parties were unable to reach an understanding on sharing of seats, appears to have tracked back. But while SAD would support BJP’s candidates, it cannot field its candidates since the last date of filing nominations has passed.
BJP national president J.P. Nadda said on Wednesday that SAD would support its candidates. Earlier, the two parties had failed to stitch an alliance over SAD’s opposition to CAA.
SAD president Sukhbir Badal said the alliance was not just political but also rooted in “emotions” and the need for “peace, future and interests of Punjab and the country”. He claimed that the “misunderstandings” parties had were sorted.