- Friday, April 26, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday (14) hit out at prime minister Narendra Modi over the arrests of his colleagues and said the country needed an “educated prime minister”.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader, who was addressing a public gathering in Bhopal, the capital of the poll-bound central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, spoke over the recent arrest of Manish Sisodia, his former deputy in the Delhi government, by the Central Bureau of Investigation in an alleged case of corruption.
“The day the prime minister sent Manish Sisodia to jail, I felt it is absolutely necessary to have an educated prime minister in the country to understand the importance of education,” Kejriwal said.
He also took a jibe at Modi over his appeal to people to beat plates and utensils during the Covid-19 crisis to express solidarity with the health workers fighting the health menace up front.
“If the prime minister is less educated, someone comes to him and advises him to make people beat plates to shoo away coronavirus. He made people do that, but did coronavirus flee? Therefore, it is necessary for the prime minister to be educated,” Kejriwal, who studied mechanical engineering at India’s reputed Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, said.
The Delhi chief minister criticised the prime minister over the arrests of Sisodia, who was also the education minister of Delhi, and Satyender Jain, the state’s health minister. He said the duo had transformed the education and health sectors in the national capital and alleged that Modi did not like it since it was against private players’ interests.
Kejriwal also promised free electricity, education and health facilities to the people of Madhya Pradesh if his AAP came to power in that state which has largely seen a two-party contest between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Indian National Congress.
“People of Madhya Pradesh have given enough opportunities to both the Congress and BJP which ruled the state for 45 and 30 years, respectively. Just give a chance to AAP, and as in Delhi and Punjab, we will provide free electricity, education and health facilities to the people of the state,” Kejriwal said.
He also said that the AAP would form government in Gujarat in 2027 when the state will go to polls again. He also criticised Modi over the government’s demonetisation move in 2016, saying the prime minister was “fooled by someone” into believing that it would end corruption and terrorism.
Did corruption and terrorism really end after that, the AAP leader asked. A learned prime minister has the knowledge of economy, technology and science, Kejriwal said.
The AAP formed government in Punjab last year, the second state it is ruling after Delhi, but failed to deliver in Gujarat which went to polls last December.
(With PTI inputs)
