After months of bitter power tussle with the Narendra Modi dispensation, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday pitched for “synergy” between the Centre and the Delhi Government in his Independence Day speech, saying cooperative approach was key for development while insisting that “differences” are healthy in democracy.
Delivering his first speech on the 69th Independence Day at Chhatrasal Stadium, Kejriwal appealed to Piyush Goyal, Minister of Power and Energy, to cancel all the long time agreements with the power companies so that cheaper electricity can be provided to Delhi people.
“Electricity cost can be reduced more if the Central Government cancelled the agreement of 30 years with power companies done by then (previous) Government. The adequate requirement of electricity for Delhi is 6 Mega Watt (MW) and we are purchasing 2500 MW electricity from other States on `5 per unit that we can buy in just `3 only,”said Kejriwal. In his 40-minute-long speech, Kejriwal ran through the AAP Government’s “unprecedented” achievements in its first six months, mainly in social sectors and in curbing corruption, saying Delhi has an “honest Chief Minister, Ministers and officials”.
“I have political differences with Modiji. But differences are healthy in democracy. It’s a good thing to have differences. But it is important to have synergy between the two as well. Such cooperative arrangements are needed for development. Since we are running Governments, we should have a working arrangement irrespective of our major ideological differences,” he said.
While appreciating the initiative of senior BJP leader and Union Minister Uma Bharti to clean Yamuna campaign, Kejriwal thanked and assured his party’s contribution in future for clean Yamuna project.
Showing sympathy towards the victims of 1984 Sikh riots, Kejriwal said his Government had words with Rajnath Singh, Home Minister. “The promise which we made during the elections to compensate riot victims will be fulfilled. Our Government will compensate them with Rs 5lakh.” We have made a request to Rajnath Singh to assist us financially and the first check will be given by him to the victim,” Kejraiwal added.
Kejriwal criticised the working culture of pervious Delhi regimes and emphasised on the dedication of the AAP Government. “The AAP Government is one that works 24 hours day,” proclaimed Kejriwal.
Earlier, a woman officer of the Delhi Police, ACP Richa Tomar led the parade, consisting of large number of girls contingents. He also gave away awards for meritorious service to two serving police officers, bravery awards and posthumous awards. In his first Independence Day speech after forming Govern-ment, he attributed AAP’s massive success in the Assembly polls to the “frustration” among the people with the political system terming AAP as a “ray of hope”. “The people of Delhi have shown the way to the country, a path of alternative politics,” he said.
Counting the achievements of his Government in past six months, Kejriwal alleged that previous Government was not intended to do developments however financial strength of the Government was never weak.
Giving the stress on healthcare and education sector he further said his Government has doubled the education budget and made healthcare budget 1.5 times to improve the state of Government funded hospitals and schools. “1,000 new mohalla clinics will make easy to take treatment in cheaper cost for common man.” he added.
He gave away medals to 3 officers of Tihar Jail, Dhiraj Mathur, Shivli Ram Meen and Hosiyar Singh for commendable services and Jeevan Raksha Padak to Vijay Kumar Singh posthumously and to little girl Mahika Gupta for bravery. Kejriwal concluded the programme by singing a song of poet Dushyant Kumar.