The Congress on Saturday pulled out an affidavit, distributed by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal in June 2013, to underline how the AAP took U-turns on most of things the party promised, and the high moral ground it took ahead of the polls.
At a press conference at the party headquarters, All India Congress Committee general secretary Ajay Maken, who has recently been appointed campaign committee chief for the Delhi polls, released the affidavit bearing Mr. Kejriwal’s signature which was widely circulated by the AAP in the run-up to the 2013 Assembly polls.
It was in the affidavit that the AAP chief had sworn not to use red beacon, not to take unnecessary security, nor go in for a big bungalow, and to live in an ordinary house like the common man.
After becoming chief minister, however, Mr. Maken said, Mr. Kejriwal went back on his words and availed of all facilities that came with the CM’s chair.
He said the Congress would release a booklet to “expose Mr. Kejriwal and his party” on Monday. The booklet would prove that Mr. Kejriwal was “a leader specialising in U-turns” and whose 49 days at the helm of Delhi’s governance was but “a tale of miseries for the people of Delhi”.
Mr. Maken said that his party’s fight was against opportunism exemplified by both Mr. Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi, who recently joined the political mainstream through her induction to the Bharatiya Janata Party after having declared that they would never enter politics but “used the anti-corruption movement for the sake of power”.
Both leaders, Mr. Maken alleged, had furthered their political ambitions through Anna Hazare, who had spearheaded the anti-corruption movement. Earlier during the week, Mr. Maken had shared one of Ms. Bedi’s tweets questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s alleged involvement in the riots of 2002 saying, “Kiran Bedi, Kejriwal and Modi Ji should delete all their previous tweets, posts & statements to cover their lies! Thx (sic.)”
“There is no difference between the two and they are just two sides of the same coin,” Mr. Maken said.
Stating that Mr. Kejriwal had vowed not to enter politics while Ms. Bedi had often been critical of the BJP and Mr. Modi, Mr. Maken wondered how the people of the Capital could ever bring themselves to trust such “opportunists”.
Mr. Maken downplayed controversial remarks made by party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi alleging that Ms. Bedi, who used to dream of becoming the Delhi Police Commissioner, had now started dreaming about being the chief minister.
