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BJP leaders ‘pseudo-Hindus’, trying to polarise voters, says Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal
New Delhi
New Delhi
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday — the last day for campaigning for the February 8 assembly polls — took another swipe at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accusing its leaders of being “pseudo-Hindus”. Kejriwal said BJP leaders were trying to polarise the election campaign on religious lines over the ongoing protests against the amended citizenship law in Shaheen Bagh.
Kejriwal, who is the national convener of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), criticised the BJP for not having named their chief ministerial candidate and on Thursday once again challenged Union home minister Amit Shah for a debate over issues in Delhi that, he said, can range from development to that of Shaheen Bagh demonstrations.
The BJP hit back saying Kejriwal is trying to cover up for his failures in the field of governance.
“The BJP in its campaign had nothing to talk about when it comes to development and welfare issues. So, the only thing they could see was the Shaheen Bagh protests and use that to polarise voters on religious lines. They are capable of taking the country 200 years back in time. The AAP will replace this politics of religion with the politics of work,” said Kejriwal in a press conference in the AAP office in central Delhi.
He further said, “The BJP has deployed a whole army of 200 MPs and dozens of ministers against me. But they could not even name a CM candidate. The party does not even have a candidate who is eligible for becoming Delhi’s CM. What if they choose someone like Sambit Patra? Will people of Delhi accept him as a leader. And Union home minister Amit Shah does not even engage with us in debates. I am ready for any issue – from schools, hospitals and subsidies to Shaheen Bagh.”
When asked about why he recently sang religious hymns at some public events, Kejriwal said, “I have read religious texts. Bhagwad Gita mentions that a true Indian should never run away or be scared of facing challenges. I am that true Indian. When asked, I did not shy away from singing the Hanuman Chalisa.”
“The BJP leaders pretend to be guardians of Hinduism. In real they are all pseudo-Hindus. They know nothing about the religion. If they did, they would never have engaged in such a campaign over religious lines,” he said.
Criticising the AAP, Union home minister Amit Shah later tweeted, “People of Delhi have decided to uproot the inefficient AAP government that has done nothing except spreading lies. Very soon Delhi will witness a pro-poor & pro-development government under the guidance of PM Modi ji (Prime Minister Narendra Modi).”
The BJP’s Delhi unit chief Manoj Tiwari too said, “This election will be based on promises and performances in the last five years. Kejriwal has failed in governance with only false promises, such as 5,000 buses, 500 schools, new hospitals, etc. Have they materialised? Now, he is only trying to cover up the AAP’s failure in governance.”
AAP goes to election commission again
The AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh on Thursday sent a complaint to the Election Commission of India alleging around 240 MPs of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will be staying in Delhi beyond 6PM Thursday which, Singh said, violates the Model Code of Conduct that is currently in place in the light of the February 8 elections.
The code requires all parties to stop campaigning by 6 pm on Thursday.
“We have read news articles that 240 MPs of the BJP will be staying in Delhi between February 4 and 8. This is violation of the Model Code of Conduct, which demands all campaigners leave the city unless they are residents of the city. I have taken this up with the election commission,” said Singh.
