Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal was on Sunday at the centre of a controversy when he asked voters in Delhi to take the money offered by the BJP and the Congress but “fool” them by voting for the AAP in the coming Delhi Assembly elections, drawing sharp criticism from both the parties.
“It’s election time. When people from the BJP and the Congress come offering money, don’t refuse, accept ... some have looted money from 2G, some have looted money from coal scam.”
“And if any party does not show up, go to its office and take the amount saying we were waiting but you didn’t come,” Mr. Kejriwal said amid cheers from the crowd.
The former Delhi Chief Minister was speaking at a rally in West Delhi’s Nawada area in support of the AAP’s Uttam Nagar candidate, Naresh Balyan.
“Take money from both the parties but vote for the AAP. We will fool them this time. They have been deceiving us for the last 65 years. Now it’s our turn,” he said.
The BJP lashed out at the AAP chief saying his comments amounted to questioning the authority of the Election Commission apart from being an affront to the voters.
“He is essentially saying that voters accept money and alcohol. His comments also mean that the EC is not working properly as money and alcohol are getting distributed,” BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi said.
The Congress said the party would seek legal opinion to approach the EC against Mr. Kejriwal for “insulting” the people of Delhi.
“Making such statements is illegal. It is like offering money to the people,” said Ajay Maken, who is campaign committee chief of the Congress in Delhi.
Earlier, in his speech, Mr. Kejriwal took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that his Ramlila Maidan speech was a let down from which he had “high expectations.”
“I had high expectations from the Prime Minister’s Ramlila Maidan rally speech. But it was such a let down. He spent half the time branding me a Naxalite and criticising me for sitting in dharnas.”
“This kind of politics is not good. Politics should rather be issue-based,” he said.
In an apparent reference to the recent religious conversion row and controversial remarks by certain BJP leaders and saffron outfits, the AAP supremo slammed the BJP for “ditching” its electoral plank of development.
“They used to speak of development. But they have ditched development for [dharm parivartan] religious conversion. Now we also hear comments on Nathuram Godse’s temples, women wearing jeans,” Mr. Kejriwal said.
