Fighting its toughest political battle yet against the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi, the Bharatiya Janata Party said here on Friday that the contest was between “governance and anarchy.”
A day ahead of voting for the 70 Assembly seats, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the AAP was more “comfortable on the streets” than in the Secretariat. The 49 days of AAP rule in 2013-14 were “nightmarish,” he said at a press conference.
Taking on the Congress, the BJP’s traditional rival, he said, “The dilution and disappearance of the Congress is the political price they are paying because of what they did to Delhi and to the country.”
He even ridiculed the support offered to the AAP by the Trinamool Congress, the Janata Dal (United) and the Left, saying they had no base in Delhi and had not provided good governance in their States.
‘People have decided’AAP leader, Arvind Kejriwal, told The Hindu that the people of Delhi had made up their mind that they wanted to vote for the AAP and “they want to give full majority this time.”
Rejecting suggestions that the outcome of Delhi polls would be a referendum on the performance of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, Mr. Jaitley said, “A referendum is a referendum and an election is an election.”
Delhi StatehoodIn answer to a question, he, however, said that though full statehood to Delhi was not part of the BJP’s Vision Document, the party backed the idea.
Mr. Jaitley lauded the choice of Kiran Bedi to lead the party in Delhi. Ms. Bedi, who shared the dais with him, did not speak.
