Addressing the gathering after the Lieutenant-Governor left the dais, Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday defended the previous Aam Aadmi Party government’s steady roll-out of populist schemes, including water and electricity bills and free travel for women on buses.
The Chief Minister said his government is often criticised for making everything free but nature has made everything precious in the world free. “When a mother loves her child or makes a sacrifice, that love is free. The fact that a father stays hungry to afford a good future for his child is priceless. Shravan Kumar [a character from The Ramayana] served his parents with all his might. In the same way, Kejriwal loves his Delhiites and Delhiites love Kejriwal and this love is free. How can I charge a fee from a child in a Delhi government school or ask people to pay for healthcare?” the CM said.
Thanking everyone, Mr. Kerjiwal stressed that it was not his victory that was being celebrated but the victory of every Delhiite. He promised that he would work for every person in the city irrespective of their affiliation to different political parties and would not discriminate on the basis of religion, caste or which strata of society they come from. “Your son has taken oath for the third time as Delhi Chief Minister. This is not my victory but yours. For the last five years, we have worked to make the lives of every person in the Delhi better and we will continue to do the same in the next five years as well,” Mr. Kejriwal said.
Making a mention of the 50 special guests he had invited to share the stage with him, he said, “Delhi is not created by us, or the politicians, or parties. Delhi is Delhi because of the teachers, students, doctors, auto drivers, rickshaw-pullers, businessmen, architects etc. who run it.” He added that the contributions and sacrifices of the people of Delhi is what will take it forward.
Mr. Kejriwal began his address with ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’, ‘Inquilab Zindabad’ and ‘Vande Mataram’ and ended it by singing ‘Hum Honge Kamyaab’, in which he was joined by the crowd at the venue.
Selection of venue
AAP chose to use Ramlila Maidan for the third time for the oath-taking ceremony as it was the site of the landmark anti-corruption protests of 2011, protests that snowballed into a movement and eventually led to the formation of the party.
The party had planned to keep the ceremony “Delhi-specific” and did not invite Chief Ministers of other States or political leaders. Only BJP MLA Vijender Gupta attended the ceremony, though all BJP MLAs and MPs from Delhi were invited.
