Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said Congress President Rahul Gandhi will be responsible if Prime Minister Narendra Modi returns to power after the Lok Sabha elections. In an interview with PTI, Kejriwal accused the Congress of harming Opposition alliances around the country.
“The Congress is harming the Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party alliance in Uttar Pradesh, the Left in Kerala, the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, the Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh and the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi,” he claimed. “If Modi comes back to power, only Rahul Gandhi will be responsible for it. It is appearing as if the Congress is fighting the polls against Opposition parties and not against the Bharatiya Janata Party.”
However, the AAP chief claimed that the party would win all seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi. He said the situation had changed dramatically in the last 10 days. “I am witnessing a situation similar to the atmosphere when we got 67 seats [out of 70 in the Assembly polls] in 2015,” Kejriwal added. Polling in all seven seats in Delhi will be held on May 12.
Kejriwal also accused Modi of failing to deliver on all fronts, and said former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had been “a thousand times better”.
“Modi cannot say that he made schools, hospitals, brought down electricity tariff, ensured drinking water supply,” Kejriwal said. The AAP chief alleged that the prime minister’s nationalism was fake, and accused him of using the Army to get votes as he had nothing to show for himself.
The AAP chief also indicated a willingness to support any Opposition party, saying that the only goal for his party was stopping Modi and BJP President Amit Shah from returning to power.
Kejriwal told ANI that the party would send a defamation notice to the BJP’s East Delhi candidate Gautam Gambhir for allegedly circulating a derogatory pamphet. “This is the mentality of BJP, even today BJP leaders are saying the same things that were written in the pamphlet,” he said. “They have filed defamation case against us after defaming us. We are sending defamation notice to Gautam Gambhir today.”
Kejriwal claimed that the pamphlet showed that the BJP had no respect for the achievements of women. Gambhir had sent a defamation notice to Kejriwal, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Atishi on Thursday.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!