Eyeing 2019 Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in Haryana, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday went on to challenge his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar over the work done by their respective State Governments in the last four years.
“When I visited Haryana recently, I witnessed poor infrastructure of schools, hospitals, roads and even electricity facility. In Delhi, we have worked for improving schools, hospitals and other facilites,” he said while talking to the mediapersons here.
Promising to emulate the ‘Mohalla Clinic model’ of Delhi in Haryana if the AAP is voted to power in the next assembly election, Kejriwal said, “People should decide whether to shun the party that sought votes in the name of temple and mosques and to support the one which worked for building schools and hospitals.”
Preparing for the Haryana assembly elections with a message of building a “New Haryana”, Kejriwal had visited the state for several times in the past three months to reach out to the general public. He has addressed public meetings, held roadshows and visited schools of Haryana.
The party has planned to contest on all 10 Lok Sabha seats from Haryana and also, on all 90 assembly seats, election for which are due later next year
Eyeing a win in the Haryana Assembly polls next year, Kejriwal is hard selling his AAP led Delhi Government’s achievements in the field of education and health sectors to the voters of Haryana.
With Haryana’s proximity to AAP ruled Delhi and the state being Kejriwal’s home state, the AAP leaders feel that the party can benefit from various factors including a political vacuum in Haryana at present. Speaking here on the state’s foundation day, being celebrated as ‘Haryana Diwas’, the AAP convener on Thursday alleged that every section of the society in the state is unhappy with the Congress, the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
These parties have ruled the state for over 50 years now. While the Congress, INLD and the BJP regimes had failed to perform in Haryana, his AAP government had brought revolutionary changes in the national capital, Kejriwal claimed.
52 years have passed since the formation of Haryana but still the expectations of people of the state remain unfulfilled, he added. Accusing the political parties to play a politics of caste, the AAP convener said that they talk about Jats, Baniyas, Pandits …. All these parties have been dividing the state on caste lines by either wooing Jats or non Jats, he alleged. “Till now, the INLD and Congress were seeking votes from Jats and BJP from non Jats. Not even a single party had sought votes for providing good education and hospital services, better infrastructure and power,” Kejriwal said. The Delhi Chief Minister further alleged that under the erstwhile INLD Government, the state's law and order went for a toss while Congress regime was no better and indulged in land grabbing and corruption.
Both INLD and Congress are witnessing infighting today and have nothing to offer to the people of Haryana, he said.
Slamming Manohar Lal for calling Mohalla Clinics as Halla clinics, Kejriwal challenged him to visit any five clinics in the national capital.
If he accepts my challenge, I will also accompany him to visit Haryana's dispensaries on November 12. I will also be writing a letter to the Chief Minister in this regard, he added.
On the Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal issue, Kejriwal said his party will abide by what the Supreme Court decides as he slammed the BJP and the Congress of failing to resolve the contentious issue.
Continuing his tirade against the BJP led Haryana Government, the Delhi CM Said that farmers are unhappy as they are not getting compensation for their damaged crops and remunerative prices for their crops, youths are disappointed and schools, hospitals are in dilapidated condition.
Notably, the AAP has planned to quote the ‘Delhi Model’ and list the achievements of the Kejriwal led Delhi Government to woo the voters in Haryana.
After tasting defeat at the hustings in the previous Lok Sabha polls from Haryana, the AAP had not contested the October 2014 assembly elections in the state.
In the previous parliamentary polls held in 2014, AAP had lost on all 10 Lok Sabhaseats in Haryana and most of its candidates had finished at fourth or fifth position.
At present, the search is on for party’s candidates for Lok Sabha polls 2019, likely to be held in May-April.