Home minister Amit Shah at Matiala area on Thursday, Express photo by Gajendra Yadav
Ahead of the Assembly elections in Delhi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday called Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal a master of making false promises. Addressing a gathering in the Matiala area, Shah said, “if competition to make false promises is held in the country, then Kejriwal will definitely come first.”
He also blamed the Kejriwal government for the non-implementation of the Lokpal bill. “I’ve come to remind Kejriwal ji that you forgot the promises you made but neither the people of Delhi nor workers of BJP have forgotten…You became CM with help of Anna Hazare but couldn’t bring a law for Lokpal and when Modi ji brought it you didn’t implement it here,” he said.
Earlier today, BJP leader Kapil Mishra dubbed the polls as a contest between India and Pakistan. In a tweet, the BJP’s Model Town candidate wrote, “It will be India vs Pakistan on the roads of Delhi on February 8.” In another tweet, he also said that Pakistan has made an entry in Shaheen Bagh.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, meanwhile, took out a roadshow in northwest Delhi’s Matiala Assembly constituency on Thursday. Surrounded by supporters, Kejriwal, atop an open yellow coloured jeep, waved to the public as the roadshow progressed. He was accompanied by Matiala MLA Gulab Singh Yadav.
Delhi goes to polls on February 8 and the results will be declared on February 11.
Arvind Kejriwal during roadshow on Wednesday
From 'shiksha wali chai' to 'swasthya wali chai' and 'vikas wali chai', varieties of tea named after the different achievements of the AAP-led Delhi government will now be served at tea stalls that will be set up in all assembly constituencies under the 'kaam ki chai' campaign launched by the party on Thursday. In an apparent dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'chai pe charcha' campaign, an MBA-dropout from Ahmedabad who goes by the name 'MBA Chaiwala' Praful Billor will supply tea under the AAP's new program.
Hitting out at the parties supporting protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, BJP President J P Nadda on Thursday said vote comes first for them and country later. In a veiled attack on Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia for supporting the Shaheen Bagh protest, Nadda said, "Vote comes first for them and country later. For us country is important not the vote," he said, adding that those opposing CAA should explain what is wrong with the act. In an interaction with a news channel, Sisodia said he stood with the Shaheen Bagh protestors.
From the ongoing roadshow in Uttam Nagar, New Delhi
Shah also took a dig at the Congress government and said Rahul Gandhi was ready to object abrogation of Article 370. " Rahul baba and company was ready, they had immediately objected & said that don't abrogate Article 370, there will be bloodshed. This is Modi govt, not a single bullet was fired and now Jammu and Kashmir have completely become a part of India," he said.
Shah reminded Kejriwal that he became the Chief Minister with the help of Anna Hazare and that he will win a competition of making false promises. "If competition to make false promises is held in the country, then Kejriwal will definitely come first," he said.
Home minister Amit Shah at Matiala area on Thursday, Express photo by Gajendra Yadav.
Addressing a gathering in Delhi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said that Kejriwal failed to bring a law for Lokpal in Delhi. " I've come to remind Kejriwal ji that you forgot the promises you made but neither the people of Delhi nor workers of BJP have forgotten...You became CM with help of Anna Hazare but couldn't bring a law for Lokpal and when Modi ji brought it you didn't implement it here,' he said.
The AAP and its chief Arvind Kejriwal mocking 'Rinkiya Ke Papa' song are "insulting" Purvanchalis and their culture, Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari said. The Purvanchalis, natives of Eastern UP and parts of Bihar living in Delhi, are not going to be swayed by Kejriwal government's water and power freebies and 98 per cent of them are supporting the BJP, Tiwari said in an interview to the PTI.
A third-year engineering student who wrote a pro-CAA rap is behind the campaign song of Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga, BJP’s Hari Nagar candidate. Shashank Dixit, who hails from Lucknow and is studying computer science engineering at JSS Academy of Technical Education in Noida, wrote a song called ‘Yaddasht’ and uploaded it on YouTube after actor Deepika Padukone visited JNU in solidarity with students assaulted on January 5 on campus. That song’s lyrics go: “Yaddasht pe daalo thoda jor, tukde tukde ka kahan mach raha tha shor, ye jo suraj ko aasman ka abba maane baithe hain, Afzal jaise hatyare ko abba mane baithi hain.” Read more here
Former Punjab Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu has been named a star campaigner by the Congress for Delhi Assembly election, campaign for which is on full swing. He is among three leaders named from Punjab. The other two are Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and Fatehgarh Sahib MLA Kuljit Singh Nagra.
It remains to be seen whether Sidhu, who has been missing in action, takes over the responsibility given by the party especially in the light of the fact that Punjab’s AAP leaders have been inviting him to join the party.
BJP candidate from Model Town Kapil Mishra on Thursday termed Delhi Assembly elections as a contest between “India vs Pakistan”. In an apparent reference to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Mishra tweeted, “There will be contest between India and Pakistan on the streets of Delhi on February 8.” Last year in August, Mishra lost his Assembly membership and was disqualified as AAP MLA from Karawal Nagar for having campaigned for the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi prior the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, accompanied by Matiala MLA Gulab Singh Yadav, is holding a roadshow in northwest Matiala Assembly constituency. Atop an open yellow coloured jeep, Kejriwal shook hands with the people as his roadshow moved through the narrow lanes of the Matiala Assembly.
Holding placards in support of various schemes of the government, including free healthcare, and electricity, AAP supporters danced to the tune of 'Lage Raho Kejriwal' (the party's anthem).
Last year in August, Mishra lost his Assembly membership and was disqualified as AAP MLA from Karawal Nagar for having campaigned for the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi prior the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Mishra had a fallout with AAP’s top leadership after he was dropped from the Delhi Cabinet in May 2017 for alleged non-performance. Mishra is the first MLA to be disqualified since the Delhi Legislative Assembly came into being in 1993.
After his disqualification, Mishra had said he was ready to “sacrifice” the post of an MLA, “not just once, but a hundred times” to campaign for Modi. “In Assembly polls, I will run a campaign for all 70 seats to Modi. The way this case has been heard is a mockery of Assembly proceedings. I will move court against this illegal order,” he said.
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