In the second rally of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Thursday, party national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal appealed to the people of the Jalandhar parliamentary constituency to vote for his party if they want development.
“If you vote for the Congress, what benefit will you get? In Punjab, it is our government, we have to get the work done. If you vote for the Congress, they will fight and indulge in ‘Tu Tu Mein Mein’, that is, if you vote for AAP all your problems will be solved, but if you vote for the Congress then you will see only a fight between its MP and AAP government.”
The Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll was necessitated due to the death of Congress MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary in January. The Congress has fielded his wife Karamjit Kaur, while AAP has fielded Sushil Kumar Rinku, a former Congress leader who recently joined the ruling party in the state.
Kejriwal told the people of Jalandhar that he was giving them a guarantee that all their work would be completed by the AAP government.
After AAP came to power in Punjab, during past one year, “we have started to fulfil the promises, guarantees made by the party”, he said.
“Some people come to us and say that we don’t know how to do politics. They tell us that promises and guarantees are not fulfilled so fast but only in the last year of the term so that people won’t forget. We tell them we have not come here to do politics, but to serve people,” Kejriwal said.
“I was told by Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema that under every head money is coming now. Money used to come earlier too, but all this used to go into their (previous regimes’ leaders) pockets, into the Swiss bank accounts of leaders of erstwhile ruling parties. Now, all this money is going into the government treasury. And with this money, your electricity bills are becoming zero,” he said.
Kejriwal further said that “we will set up a big hospital like PGIMER in Jalandhar”.
He said blue (ration) card holders were facing some problems, as cards of some beneficiaries have got deleted by mistake, but he assured that everyone will get ration.
Now, people are getting free treatment in air-conditioned Mohalla clinics in the state, Kejriwal said, adding that 28,000 youths have been given government jobs during past one year and in the coming years, several thousand more jobs will be given.
He said, “You voted for them (Opposition parties) in the past, but they ruined the state. Now, give us a chance and see the result. Mann has rid the state of sand mafia, and put those behind bars who had been indulging in corrupt practices.”
Kejriwal alleged that scholarships for Scheduled Caste students were usurped during the previous regime. “The minister in the previous government responsible has been sent to jail by our government in Punjab. Now, children are getting scholarship. I am told scholarship of some students is pending, but they too will be getting it in next few days,” he added. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who was also present here, while addressing the rally said, “This by-election will not change central and state governments, also this will not make Rahul Gandhi PM. But if you elect the AAP candidate from Jalandhar, then he will solve all your problems. I will tell him how to raise your issues in the Parliament, how to get money for development, how to speak and how to deal with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”
Mann added that “when I was the MP from Sangrur for eight years, I raised all issues of the people of that constituency, got money more than the entitlement for the development works and gave account of every single penny spent”.
AAP won 92 seats in Punjab Vidhan Sabha elections, sent 10 MPs to Rajya Sabha and now it’s your turn to send one MP to Lok Sabha from Punjab, said Mann.
“Our government is putting all those behind bars who were involved in shady dealings in the past governments. This will deter our own ministers from making any false moves,” Mann said.
The previous Congress government, Mann alleged, kept UP’s gangster Mukhtar Ansari as a guest in Punjab’s Ropar jail. “The lawyer’s fee in this case was Rs 55 lakh. I rejected this file as we do not need that gangster in our jail. Why should we spend on such a gangster? Now, we will recover the money – after seeking legal advice – from those who had given the nod to keep him here,” said Mann. Taking a dig at the Opposition parties, Mann said that BJP leaders hardly come here, Congress leaders are directionless as the party is riddled with factionalism. “If the Congress leaders even sit together, it will make headlines,” Mann said taking a jibe at the grand old party.
First published on: 21-04-2023 at 07:26 IST
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