Arvind Kejriwal switches to Lok Sabha poll mode: Voting for Congress will strengthen BJP

Kejriwal also sought to dismiss speculation of any tacit understanding with the Congress, saying the party is “finished” in the capital and has been reduced to a “vote cutter for the AAP”.

In 2014, all seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi were bagged by the BJP. In a dramatic reversal, 67 of 70 seats went to the AAP in the 2015 Assembly polls, the BJP’s tally was brought down to three, while the Congress got zero.

In his speech, right in the middle of east Delhi’s trade hub, Kejriwal listed out the “achievements” of the AAP government as opposed to the “utter failure” of BJP MPs in preventing the sealing drive and the hike in Metro fares.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia went a step further and warned people to guard against the BJP’s attempts to make them vote for it in the Lok Sabha polls. “They will come to you and say Kejriwal has done good work, but vote for him in Delhi. For the Lok Sabha polls, vote for us,” he said.

Sisodia said the election office, located next to the Laxmi Nagar Metro station, will be the “next East Delhi MP’s office”. With this, Marlena became AAP’s first official Lok Sabha candidate.

“You had elected BJP candidates to all seven seats, thinking they would do something for you. Then Assembly elections took place. You gave us 67 of 70 seats. Who worked more for you? Try and recall one good work done by the MPs. On the other hand, we slashed power rates, made water free, built schools, reined in private schools, built mohalla clinics. Had the MPs been from AAP, the pace of work would have been at least 10 times faster,” the Delhi CM said.

Addressing traders in the area, he said the BJP MPs didn’t raise their voice against sealing as they could not go against their political masters at the Centre. “Nor could they protest against the Metro fare hike,” he said.

“We don’t have money for contesting polls. We have prepared four budgets so far, worth around Rs 2 lakh crore. We could have easily made thousands of crores for the party by now. What was the need to wear torn chappals and shirts? But then we could not have developed schools and healthcare. We are the party of common men and the poor,” he said.