Setting his eyes on the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched AAP’s “Make India No. 1” campaign here on Wednesday.
The AAP national convener announced that the campaign would be driven by five “targets” — free and quality education, healthcare for all, equality and safety of women, jobs for youth and a fair price for farmers’ produce.
“We are on a mission to make India the strongest and greatest nation in the world. Let’s come together for the cause and Make India No. 1,” Mr. Kejriwal said, urging all 130 crore Indians to come together for the campaign. He was speaking at an event organised by AAP at the Talkatora stadium.
‘End hatred’
The last 75 years, the Delhi CM said, had been “wasted” in political wrangling and the time had come to “end hatred” and live in peace. Mr. Kejriwal said he will travel “to every nook and corner of the country” to connect with the people and garner support for his campaign.
Mr. Kejriwal said, “These politicians and their parties are incompetent. They will ruin the country. If it is up to the will of these politicians, India will lag behind for another 75 years.”
AAP, which won its last Assembly election in Punjab by a landslide, has been trying to expand its footprint across the country with an eye on the next general election.
While the party performed poorly in the other State polls it contested this year — Goa, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand — it is trying to make an impact in the upcoming elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, where its principal opponent is the BJP.
“We do not want to indulge in [political] fights anymore,” the Delhi CM said.
Without naming the BJP and the Congress, Mr. Kejriwal accused the two national parties of having been “blinded” by love for “their friends and families”.
‘Promoting his politics’
Mr. Kejriwal came under heavy attack from the BJP. The Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri accused the CM of making false claims and peddling false propaganda, “to promote his politics”.
“Kejriwal is offering advice to the whole world, but in Delhi, he himself is not following what he preaches. He is trying to fool the people of Delhi as well as the entire country with his formula,” Mr. Bidhuri said.
North East Delhi BJP MP Manoj Tiwari said the party would soon approach the Lokayukta and the Lieutenant-Governor demanding a forensic probe by the Comptroller and Auditor General into core Delhi government sectors such as power, water and transportation.
