- Sunday, April 28, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
With the assembly elections in the western state of Gujarat approaching, the political heat between India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), an opposition, is turning intense.
On Thursday (1), Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is also the convener of the AAP, said his party’s support has grown in the poll-bound state following the raid conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sleuths against Manish Sisodia, the deputy chief minister of Delhi, in the ‘fake’ liquor case.
“There has been a 4% increase in vote share. If Sisodia gets arrested, then it will be 6%. And if Manish Sisodia is arrested twice, then probably we will be able to form the government there,” Kejriwal said while delivering a speech at the Delhi assembly ahead of the trust vote which AAP won with 59 MLAs present at the house.
The AAP, which won power in Punjab earlier this year, is aiming to topple the BJP which also rules Gujarat, the home state of prime minister Narendra Modi, in this year’s election after having made significant gains in the state’s civic polls.
The AAP leader said CBI officials did not find anything from Sisodia and understood that there was no case.
“But they are under pressure. They told us that they will have to arrest Sisodia once. Sisodia told them that he will go to the CBI when they want to arrest him,” Kejriwal said.
“So it is certain that Manish Sisodia will be arrested. But the entire country is watching that we get certificates from PM Modi again and again. Because an arrest is part of politics. That will go on,” the chief minister said.
Kejriwal said there have been 169 cases against 49 of AAP lawmakers in Delhi, including 16 on him.
“I am watching the debates on television. I am pained. What is happening? There are debates going on schools. They are now asking why I have made so many schools, why the schools have so many toilets, and why there are so many classrooms. Now tell me, what’s our fault in this? You send your children abroad for education. But I will ensure high-quality education for the poor children of this country,” Kejriwal added.
“They are now after Delhi schools. Learn something if we have done something good. I want to learn from every state. Recently, I had a conversation with Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma. I told him that I am ready to come to Assam. But he does not say anything. I will be going to Tamil Nadu,” Kejriwal said.
“The reason for today’s trust vote is to prove that BJP can’t buy everything. They are buying MLAs in every state. They did it in Maharashtra and then they tried the same in Jharkhand. They were ready to buy our 40 MLAs in ₹800 crore and could not buy a single of our MLA,” Kejriwal said.
