Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Ernakulam Lok Sabha candidate Anita Pratap has accused Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi of protecting the interests of ‘Ambanis and Adanis’.
Addressing a meet-the-press programme at the Ernakulam Press Club on Saturday, Ms. Pratap termed the Gujarat development model of Mr. Modi as ‘fake’. She said the performance of the State in education and health sectors was well below the national average.
Alleging that Mr. Modi was acting like a dictator, Ms. Pratap said he remained silent on allegations of corruption over gas pricing raised by AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal. She also accused Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of not acting against corruption despite having an honest image.
Ms. Pratap said the ‘Aam Aadmi’ was tired of dirty politics and claimed that the AAP had been enjoying an unprecedented support in Kerala.
Outlining her priorities for the Ernakulam Lok Sabha constituency, the AAP candidate said that focus would be on women’s empowerment and youth welfare. She said her party believed in the politics of giving opportunity to the electorate to identify their problems and suggest solutions to it.
‘Jan sabhas’She said that ‘jan sabhas’ would be held in all Assembly constituencies in Ernakulam before the finalisation of AAP manifesto. “We could also resolve the infrastructure and other related issues here by rallying together experts in various areas,” she said.
The former CNN journalist admitted initial hiccups in the organisational structure of the AAP, as it was a new entrant into the political system in Kerala. “But we have already worked out the shortcomings,” she said.
Stating that a section of the media was unleashing a negative propaganda against Arvind Kejriwal and the AAP, Ms. Pratap said the mainstream political parties and the industry now viewed Mr. Kejriwal as a threat to the ruling system.
