With the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) stepping up electioneering in Haryana in the run-up to the upcoming general election, party supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on May 14 held a road show in the Kurukshetra Lok Sabha constituency, accusing the BJP of arresting him to prevent him from campaigning.
In Haryana, the Congress and the AAP are contesting the Lok Sabha election in alliance as INDIA bloc partners. The AAP is contesting the Kurukshetra seat while the Congress is contesting the rest of the nine seats.
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As he campaigned in favour of Sushil Gupta, the AAP candidate from Kurukshetra, Mr. Kejriwal urged the people not to vote for the BJP as it put him in jail.
“Elections were declared on March 16 and they put me in jail on March 21, they [BJP] wanted to stop me from campaigning. I have come straight from jail to the public. I have a special relationship with Pehwa because the in-laws of my younger brother Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Bhagwant Mann is in Pehwa. Therefore, not a single vote should go to the BJP that sent me to jail. They wanted to stop me from campaigning because these people are afraid of Arvind Kejriwal,” he said.
Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal at a rally in Kurukshetra, Haryana. | Photo Credit: PTI
Mr. Kejriwal said the BJP had brought in total dictatorship in the country. The work of abolishing dictatorship should start from Haryana by giving all 10 seats to the INDIA bloc. “They arrested me, did not allow farmers to enter Delhi, and misbehaved with our wrestlers’ daughters. Those who misbehaved have been honoured with tickets. The BJP is losing in Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi and Punjab. Even in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Bihar, U.P., and Bengal. They were saying 400-plus seats but they are not getting more than 230 seats in the entire country,” he said.
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“Nowadays Modi’s guarantee is going on, it is a fake guarantee. The PM had earlier given guarantees of depositing ₹15 lakh [in every citizen’s bank account after bringing back black money from abroad], providing two crore jobs every year, giving MSP (minimum support price) to farmers, doubling the income of farmers by 2022, and building 100 smart cities. But not a single one of these guarantees was fulfilled,” he added.
Published - May 14, 2024 10:07 pm IST
