AAP National Convenor and Delhi CM Shri Arvind Kejriwal delivered a fiery speech in Guwahati today as he announced the party’s bid for Assam State Polls. In a veiled attack at the BJP Government, he said that only an educated leader can fulfil aspirations of modern India, it is imperative for Indian PMs to be well educated. Supporting his argument he urged the people of the country to understand that undereducated PMs are harmful for nation’s future, saying, no qualified PM would have ever allowed demonetisation or farm laws.
Addressing the state’s water woes, he promised to bring water supply to every household. PM Modi had said that he will deliver Brahmaputra water to every house, but he did not fulfill it, I promise I will deliver water to every house once we come to power, Shri Arvind Kejriwal announced. Questioning the intentions of the BJP state government he asserted that in a state where the wife of the Chief Minister runs a private school, then neither government schools can improve nor children can get good education there.
The AAP National Convenor accompanied by Punjab CM Sardar Bhagwant Mann addressed a Karyakarta Sammelan at the Sonaram High School Ground in Guwahati on Sunday. Speaking on the occasion, Delhi CM Shri Arvind Kejriwal urged the residents of Assam to vote for AAP in the next state assembly elections to have the facilities that their counterparts in Delhi and Punjab are receiving. Chief Minister of Punjab Sardar Bhagwant Mann also attended the event.
Addressing a huge crowd, Shri Arvind Kejriwal lauded the energy levels and the excitement of the people and said that the love shown to the Aam Aadmi Party makes it feels like the people will overthrow the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led BJP Government today itself. He, however, asked them to be patient and said that there is time in overthrowing the government in the state.
He said that the citizens of Assam are blessed by the Goddess Kamakhya and went on to pay his respect to influential figures who have worked for the state of Assam. “Srimanta Sankerdev and his disciple Srimanta Madhavdev had a major role to play in the development of the state and I pay my respects to them. These two residents took the various different religious communities of Assam together and the state prospered under them. Jyoti Prasad Agarwal, Bishnu Prasad Rabha, Dr Bhupendra Hazarika through their music and artform brought laurels to the state and I would like to give my respect to them as well,” he said.
He said that the state of Assam has been blessed by the Gods. It has such beautiful rivers and mountains and valleys. It has the Brahmaputra river. When the Gods created Assam they made sure to provide it with abundant resources such as minerals and mines, but the politicians of the state have gone on to ruin everything here.
Shri Arvind Kejriwal pointed out that in the last 75 years, the Congress party has ruled the state for 52 years, the Assam Gana Parishad ruled it for 10 years and the BJP has ruled over here for the last 7 years. He asked what the people had gotten in return from these parties besides just being cheated by them. He alleged that whichever party got an opportunity to govern Assam, it went on to loot the state.
He thanked the 3.5 crore residents of Assam for inviting himself, Sardar Bhagwant Mann and the Aam Aadmi Party to the state today. Contrasting that the AAP-led Government in Delhi was formed in 2015, and the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led BJP government was formed in Assam in 2016, AAP National Convenor said that while Delhi has got good quality school and hospitals, the citizens in Assam have got nothing in return from the BJP.
He accused the BJP in Assam of only indulging in negative politics. He also revealed that over the last two days, the Assam CM on national TV had been saying that he will jail Kejriwal when he arrives in the state. “Am I a terrorist that the Assam CM will put me in jail? I want to tell him that he might have become the CM of Assam, but he has not been able to imbibe the cultural heritage of the residents of Assam,” he said.
He added that the Assamese people are very welcoming and treat their guests with immense respect. He taunted the Assam CM and said that the people here do not threaten to put their guests in jail, and urged him to learn something from the residents of the state. He also used the occasion to invite Shri Himanta Biswa Sarma to Delhi and welcomed him to his home in the National Capital. “Please come to Delhi and I will show you the excellent schools and hospitals that the Delhi Government has built in the National Capital. You might not have done the same here in Assam, but at least you will get an opportunity to learn what we have done in Delhi,” he said.
Highlighting that unemployment is one of the main problems for the residents of Assam, Shri Arvind Kejriwal said that the youth in state are screaming out and asking for jobs, but the state government has no time for them. He pointed out that before forming the government in 2016, the BJP had promised to provide jobs to the residents of Assam, but had not done this in the seven years so far.
He said that the official figures of the number of unemployed people in the state may be around 25 lakh, but in reality, it was twice the number of people who are jobless. He also hit out at the state government for the paper leaks in the state and asked how a government that cannot stop paper leaks will run the state government efficiently.
Pointing out that there has been no paper leak in Delhi in 8 years and in Punjab in the last one year under AAP Government, he said that if the intentions of the state government are honest, then these problems will not occur. He said that paper leaks happen only when someone in the government enables it and said that a state government that cannot handle paper leaks is “playing with the future of our children”.
Shri Arvind Kejriwal said that in the last 7-8 years he has provided 12 lakh jobs to the residents of Delhi. He also said that Sardar Bhagwant Mann-led Punjab government has already provided close to 28,000 jobs to the residents of the state within one year of forming the government. Highlighting that AAP governments know how to provide jobs, he urged the residents to vote for AAP in the next state assembly elections.
Pointing out the poor condition of government schools in Assam, Shri Arvind Kejriwal said that in any state if the wife of the Chief Minister runs a private school that charges fees worth in lakhs of rupees, then the government school in that state will never be in good condition. He said that before the AAP-led government in Delhi and Assam, the politicians over there also ran such private schools. But the state government there has now made the government schools better than any private school.
He invited the resident of Assam to check out the government schools in Delhi and said that the pass percentage of the schools is 99.7 percent. He said that the children of poor families in these schools dream about becoming engineers and doctors, just like any other children. He also told the people of Assam that it is in their hands now to get such schools in their state as well. All they need to do is vote for AAP in the next assembly elections.
Highlighting the poor condition of government hospitals in Assam, he said that he had been informed that there is only one medical college in Guwahati – the Guwahati Medical College. Shri Arvind Kejriwal said that you can see long queues outside it at all times and compared it with the medical facilities in Delhi, where most medicines and tests can be undertaken for free. He pointed out that the situation was dire when AAP formed the government in Delhi for the first time, but things have become a lot better over time. He said that it could be the same in Assam if AAP forms the next government here.
Speaking on the issue of electricity, he said that the residents in Assam face constant power cuts and yet they also end up paying a very high electricity bill. He contrasted this with Delhi where residents get free electricity and also get it for 24 hours. He said that the situation could be the same in the state if people vote for AAP.
Highlighting that PM Narendra Modi had visited the same venue around 8-9 years ago and promised people that the water from Brahmaputra would reach their household soon, the CM said that this has not yet been done. He said that if AAP forms the government here, then the party will get this work done within the span of a year.
Stating that the ruling government has encouraged syndicates and various types of mafias, the CM said that the politicians in the BJP only work for their relatives. He contrasted this with the AAP governments in Delhi and Punjab and said that it only worked for the people. He also added that there was mafia controlling school and water in Delhi when AAP formed the government and said that his government had brought an end to all of this.
He said that the Budget of the Assam Government was Rs 3.25 lakh crores and wondered where all of this money had gone as the state had not built schools or provided essential necessities to the people. He also pointed out that the state had a debt of Rs 1,23,000 crore.
Shri Arvind Kejriwal asked the people present at the rally where it was important for the Prime Minister to be well-educated and they all responded in the affirmative. Stating that we all live in the 21st Century, he said that the youth of this century are very aspirational and they want to find a solution to the problems of the country such as high inflation and high unemployment. The youth wants the country to progress at a rapid pace and for this it is very important for the PM of the nation to be well educated, he said.
The Delhi CM added that it is not a crime to be uneducated or less educated as within India because of their financial circumstances a lot of people did not find the access to good quality education. But he said that the PM’s job requires the person holding this important office to be well-educated.
Giving the example of the demonetization exercises that was done by the Central Government in November 2016, the CM said that the exercise took the country ten years behind. He also pointed to the number of business that were later shut down as a consequence of it and the number of people who died standing in queues outside banks.
Revealing details of why the demonetization took place, the CM said that it was because some officers decided to take the PM for a toss. “Someone went to PM Narendra Modi and told him that if demonetisation is done, then corruption will come to an end. I want to ask all of you, has corruption stopped since then? The officers told him that if demonetisation takes place then terrorism will also be stopped. Has terrorism stopped since then?,” he asked.
Revealing how PM Modi brought in the three farm laws despite the farmer community pleading against it, Shri Arvind Kejriwal said that the ego of the PM was such that despite thousands of farmers sitting on protest at the borders of Delhi, the Central Government did not listen to their voices. It was only after over 750 farmers died while protesting that the laws were revoked by the government under pressure. He said that if the PM was educated then such a decision against the farmer community would never have been taken.
He concluded by asking the citizens whether the person running such a proud nation should not be well-educated. “Should the PM of 21st Century India not be well educated? Does India need an educated PM? This is the question I ask to the citizens of the country. When a person hires a manager even to run a single company, they require the applicant to have certain qualifications like an MBA, etc. So, should the person who is mandated to ‘manage’ a nation like India not be educated?,” he asked.
Speaking at the Karyakarta Sammelan, Punjab CM Sardar Bhagwant Mann said that the problems faced by the people of Assam are similar to those faced by their counterparts in Delhi and Punjab. He highlighted that corruption was one of the major problems faced by citizens across the country.
He said that the people of Punjab last year, gave the Aam Aadmi Party 92 out of 117 seats in the state assembly and since then there has been a war against corruption in Punjab. “We launched a helpline number to fight against corruption in Punjab and today hundreds of criminals are languishing in jail. An important message has been sent to government officials that they have to be satisfied with their salaries as they can no more earn money by taking bribes,” he said.
He also said that the state government fulfilled its promise of providing free electricity to the residents of Punjab. He added that since July last year, the bills of over 80 percent households in the state have become zero. “Apart from this, we have not imposed any additional tax in our Budget. We had given a guarantee of opening Mohalla Clinics in Punjab and today there are more than 500 Mohalla Clinics functioning within a year of formation of AAP Government in the state. We had guaranteed jobs to the youth and just yesterday we gave away appointment letters to 1320 youths in the state. In the last one year, 28,472 government jobs have been given,” he said.
He said that he met some people at the airport today who informed him that while in Delhi and Punjab the government schools had become excellent, over here in Assam, the wife of the CM started a private school of her own. The Punjab CM said that if the families members of those who run the government own private schools in the state, then government schools will never be improved.
Taking a potshot at PM Narendra Modi, Sardar Bhagwant Mann said that while he favours his “businessman friend”, it is the citizen of the country who continue to suffer from poverty and high inflation. He added that the PM does not let anyone question the scams of his friends.
He further said that while true patriots like Shri Manish Sisodia – who brought in an Educational Revolution in Delhi – and Shri Satyendar Jain, who provided a model to give free healthcare to residents of Delhi, continue to be kept in jail over false charges, those who loot the country are roaming around freely.
He asked the citizens of the country to fight for the nation. “Our country is being sold in front of our own eyes and my appeal to you all is that we should fight against the forces that are breaking the country and selling it to their friends. These people only indulge in politics of hatred. AAP talks about schools, hospitals, electricity and infrastructure, but they only talk about provoking people,” he said.
He said that in the last one year in Punjab, the state government has closed down 8 toll plazas. These should have been closed down many years ago, but they were not. The people of Punjab now save over Rs 10 lakh per day because of this move of the government.
He concluded by saying that Assam does not need a “double engine” but a new engine. “This engine is of the Aam Aadmi Party and I urge you all to vote for the AAP in the next state assembly elections, so that we can bring the change that Assam desperately needs,” he said.
