Launching an attack on the Congress, Union Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said the times of dynasty politics have gone and now is the time for merit-based politics.
“The Bharatiya Janata Party has put an end to dynasty politics. Our party does not chose candidates on the basis of family relations. We chose candidates on the basis of their merit,” Mr. Jaitley told a public gathering in Moti Nagar.
“Delhi needed a fair and honest leader, and that is the reason we chose Kiran Bedi as the chief ministerial candidate for the party. She is an iconic woman who has served Delhi for 40 years. The party is confident that she is best person to lead Delhi,” he said.
The party is proud that people like retired Army, IAS and IPS officers all chose to join the BJP instead of other parties, the Minister added.
“The Gandhi family was considered as the power of Congress. We have changed the rules and people are now looking outside the family for leadership. A man like Narendra Modi came to politics purely because of his hard work and changed the face of the country.”
Praising Mr. Modi further, he added: “For the first time in Indian history, a U.S. President and an Indian Prime Minister met like equals. It was all possible because of the able leadership of Modi ji and Advani ji .”
He also targeted Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal and called him an “opportunist”.
“Do you want a Chief Minister like Arvind Kejriwal, who spends half his time in the Cabinet and the other half on roads protesting? He has even gone to the extent of threatening to disrupt the Republic Day function. On one side, there are people like Narendra Modi and Kiran Bedi, who believe in the system and are good administrators. Then there are people like Kejriwal, who is an anarchist. Now it is up to the residents of Delhi to make a wise decision,” he added.
Meanwhile, all four election rallies of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj were cancelled here on Friday for the second day in a row. There was no reason given by the BJP and local organisers for cancellation of the rallies. Ms. Swaraj is scheduled to leave for China on Saturday on a four-day visit.
On Thursday too, the poll rallies of Ms. Swaraj were called-off with the BJP maintaining that she was pre-occupied with various briefings ahead of her China visit. However, several other party leaders addressed jan sabhas in different parts of the city, including Shahnawaz Hussain, Yogi Adityanath and Manoj Tiwari. Also, Union Urban Minister Venkaiah Naidu joined Cabinet colleague Nirmala Sitharaman at the press conference at the State unit headquarters.
Mr. Naidu elaborated on the Central government’s “achievements” with respect to infrastructure and urban issues in the city and said: “Delhi is a city-State, where its development is interlinked to the Central government. You need a party and a person who is willing to work with the Central government, since the Centre is firmly with the BJP and Mr. Modi,” he said.
Clarifying that he is “not arm-twisting” voters into choosing a BJP government here, Mr. Naidu said: “Delhi requires a party which is willing to work together with the Centre and not sit on dharnas .”
