Eyeing an hat-trick in Delhi civic polls, Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah on Saturday launched a blistering attack on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government alleging that corruption has flourished under the Kejriwal government and people must teach it a lesson.
Addressing party workers ahead of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections, Mr. Shah referred to its victories in the recent Assembly polls and noted that a win the civic elections would help catapult the party to power in the national capital.
Pointing to an India map near the dais, Mr. Shah said while the country is being painted in “saffron”, Delhi continues to remain a “white spot” and asked the party workers to ensure a win in the civic elections.
“After 2014, the BJP has won nearly everywhere, except Delhi and Bihar. Today, BJP workers will go back with a resolve to plug the gaps and so that the its victory flag is unfurled in the national capital,” he said.
Mr. Shah accused Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of getting into fights with the Centre for political reasons.
“The AAP has indulged in corruption like no other party has in such a short time. His [Kejriwal] principal secretary was arrested by the CBI. There was graft in procuring onions, in appointments in DCW, in procuring water tankers, street lights. A minister is involved in hawala. There was scam in waqf board. And most importantly, AAP used Delhi exchequer’s money in Gujarat, Kolkata and other States for putting out advertisements.”
The BJP president contrasted his party’s “clean record” in governance with the AAP’s “tainted” tenure, saying many of its legislators and ministers were arrested over charges of corruption and “rape”.
He also dared Mr. Kejriwal to take action against the legislators and ministers facing various allegations and order a judicial probe into the charges.
“This is not just an MCD election, but it is an opportunity to uproot the AAP government in next polls,” Mr. Shah said, and appealed to party activists to work hard for the elections as it was Delhi where the then Jana Sangh, BJP’s predecessor, came to power first.
Union Ministers Venkaiah Naidu, Nirmala Sitharaman, Jitendra Singh, Harsh Vardhan and Vijay Goel as well as Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari were present at the event.
Mr. Shah also referred to the anti-terror surgical strike undertaken last year, saying the armed forces “barged” into Pakistan to avenge the killing of soldiers in Uri last year.
