The 2017 State Assembly elections in Goa will be a “straight fight” between the BJP and APP, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday, even as he tried to rake up the Rohit Vemula suicide to highlight atrocities on Dalits in the country, especially in poll-bound States of Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.
“The Congress has no chance in these polls. This is a straight fight between the BJP and the AAP. You take this from me in writing. The Congress will not get a single seat in Goa, just like it happened in Delhi. You do not waste your ballot by voting for the Congress. If you vote for the Congress, your vote will be wasted and divided,” Kejriwal told a meeting of the tribal community in Quepem sub district in South Goa.
Kejriwal, who is on a three-day visit to poll-bound Goa, his third visit to the state in as many months, also said that the BJP-led coalition Government had lost the faith of the people and urged tribals in Goa to vote for the AAP.
“People trusted Parrikar and all those are feeling cheated now. They now believe that the BJP is even worse than the Congress. Those who want to vote for the BJP please re-think. BJP cannot provide hope or future for Goa,” Kejriwal said.
Kejriwal also played the Rohit Vemula card to appeal to the ST and SC population of Goa, while also promising to take those responsible for the death of two ST youth, during an agitation in 2011, to task.
“Tribal voices in Goa were suppressed, police action was taken. All this happens when a government is against the backward people. You can see this in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh. Rohit Vemula was forced to commit suicide. Those who did this, they will be punished, especially in the case where the two youth were killed,” Kejriwal said.
The Delhi Chief Minister also said that the Aam Aadmi Party was committed to reservations as promised in the Indian Constitution for SCs and STs.
“It is necessary and it should be continued until the SC and ST atrocities do not stop. You have seen how Dalits atrocities are being committed in India. They are not being considered equals even today. We stand by the provisions for SCs and STs in the Constitution. We will continue to stand by it and will not tolerate any attempts to change it,” Kejriwal said.
The AAP co-founder also said that political patronage was behind the narcotics industry in the coastal state, which is well known tourism destination.
“Drugs cannot be sold even for a day, if it does not have political support. Drugs business survives only because of political support. When drug money fills the pockets of the politicians, they instruct the police to go slow...” the Delhi chief minister said.
Claiming that the BJP’s top leadership was concerned about the rapid strides made by the AAP in Goa, Kejriwal said: “Amit Shah did not go to Uttar Pradesh, but he came to Goa because he knows in Goa AAP is winning. They are scared about what will happen in Goa. Few days ago, you must have read (in the newspapers) that when Parsekar said he went to meet the Prime Minister, the latter asked about the response to Kejriwal’s rally. PM is scared about Kejriwal’s rally! BJP is scared,” Kejriwal said.