Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. Inset: PM Modi
Credit: PTI Photos
New Delhi: As the Prime Minister called the ten years of AAP rule as an ‘Aapda’ (disaster) for Delhi, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal on Friday hit back, saying Narendra Modi would not have had to spend almost the whole of his speech to curse Delhiites and the government they elected with a huge mandate if the union government had done its bit for the capital.
Signalling the launch of a bitter political war during the Assembly elections to be held in weeks from now, Kejriwal said even 2-3 hours would be insufficient for him to list the work done by the AAP government in the fields of power, education, health, water, sever and road while the union government’s record would be nil.
“The AAP government did many things in ten years but the BJP at the Centre did not do anything that Modi could mention in his speech. Modi-ji spent 39 of the 43 minutes doing nothing but abusing people of Delhi and the government by them with a huge mandate. If they had done some work, this was not needed. BJP fights elections through abuses," he said.
Modi called AAP a disaster to Delhi but he can count at least three “disasters” for BJP in Delhi, which have no Chief Ministerial face, no narrative and no agenda for the elections, Kejriwal told a press conference after Modi levelled charges against the AAP government while unveiling projects for the capital.
With Modi referring to the ‘Sheesh Mahal’ controversy over the expenditure incurred on the official residence of Delhi Chief Minister, Kejriwal said, “living in a house worth Rs 2,700 crore, the man who travel in a plane worth Rs 8,400 crore, and from a person who wore a suit worth Rs 10 lakh, talking about 'Sheesh Mahal' does not sound good.”
He alleged that the BJP was an “enemy of the poor”, which rendered over two lakh people homeless by demolishing slums in the capital. Modi was handing over keys of houses to around 1,700 people on Friday and he had earlier given 4,700 homes when there are 15 lakh people looking for homes in four lakh slums in the capital, he said.
“At this rate, it will take 200 years to realise the 2020 election promise of the BJP. It appears the BJP manifesto was not for five years but for 2000 years. BJP and Modi have stabbed the people of Delhi in the back. In the last 5 years, they have made 2,78,796 people homeless by demolishing slums. I assure you that if you vote for them even by mistake, they will demolish all the slums by 2030 and bring the people on the streets,” he said.
He also said the Prime Minister laid foundation stones for two campuses for Delhi University and a college when in the past ten years, the AAP government has constructed 22,000 class rooms, three universities, 11 vocational colleges and six campuses. “For Modi, it took 10 years to even lay the foundation stone for a college in Delhi,” he said.