Sanjay Singh says 'jhadu' needed to clean Haryana, urges people to vote for AAP in assembly polls

Karnal: AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh on Wednesday urged people of Haryana to vote for his party in the upcoming assembly elections, saying "a 'jhadu' (the party's election symbol broom) is needed to clean the state".

"You have the power. You have to use your votes to decide who will rule Haryana -- BJP, Congress, INLD or AAP," Singh said, while addressing a gathering here.

The Haryana Assembly polls are due later this year and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has already announced it will contest all the 90 seats in the state, claiming that people want change and are looking at it with great hope.

Though the AAP has contested several polls in Haryana, it is yet to taste electoral success in the state.

Singh said the AAP-led governments in Delhi and Punjab have provided free education, medical treatment and electricity to people.

"The day the Aam Aadmi Party forms its government in Haryana, you can tear up your old electricity bills and throw them away, as the electricity bill will be zero," Singh said.

Lashing out at the BJP government in Haryana, Singh said unemployment and education are two of the biggest problems in the state. "I want to ask you (voters), will you defeat or not the BJP government which closed 3,000 government schools in Haryana," he said, adding that "if you want to defeat BJP, then make AAP victorious".

Praising Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, he said, "It is Kejriwal who set up hospitals, schools, 'mohalla' clinics in the city, along with 300 units of free electricity for people. He has also arranged free 'tirath yatra' for senior citizens".

"A 'jhadu' (broom) is also needed to clean the state of Haryana," Singh added.

The AAP leader accused the BJP-led Centre of keeping Kejriwal in the jail.

"Today Kejriwal's health is not good. Any untoward incident can happen with him in the jail," he said.

Kejriwal, who is also the AAP national convener, was arrested by ED on March 21 in a money laundering case linked to the alleged excise policy scam. The Supreme Court has granted him interim bail but he is still in jail as the CBI had arrested him in a related matter.

The AAP has been accusing the BJP of conspiring to kill Kejriwal in jail, citing his medical report to show that his sugar levels have fallen 34 times between June 3 and July 7.

Singh also raked up the Agnipath scheme of recruitment in defence services, saying "until this scheme is abolished, the AAP will keep fighting against it".

The scheme, announced by the Narendra Modi government in 2022, envisages recruiting young soldiers on a contractual basis for four years and retire 75 per cent of them without certain benefits enjoyed by those who were not employed under this programme.