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Punjab election: Sidhu corners Kejriwal over promises made to women, teachers
Navjot Singh Sidhu called Kejriwal’s promise to give ₹1,000 per month to all women in Punjab a “lollipop” and questioned that how many women have been given a similar sop in the Delhi
Hitting out at Aam Aadmi Party national convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal for promising ₹1,000 per month to all women if voted to power in Punjab, state Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu on Monday called it a “lollipop” and questioned that how many women have been given a similar sop in the national capital.
Sidhu also targeted Kejriwal on jobs created for teachers in Delhi, days after the AAP leader had promised to regularise services of temporary teachers in Punjab.
After contesting the Punjab assembly elections for the first time in 2017 and emerging as the main opposition, the Kejriwal-led party has announced a slew of promises in hopes to make more gains in the 2022 elections.
A day after Kejriwal accused leaders of the Congress, BJP and SAD of constantly bashing his party over these announcements, Sidhu slammed him, invoking an iconic movie dialogue: “Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones at others”.
Series of Twitter posts
In a series of posts on Twitter, Sidhu targeted the Delhi CM for not having one woman in his cabinet.
“@ArvindKejriwal Ji you talk of women empowerment, jobs & teachers. However, you don’t have one woman minister in your Cabinet. How many women in Delhi get ₹1000 despite revenue surplus left by (former Delhi CM) Sheila Dikshit Ji !! (sic),” tweeted Sidhu.
He said women’s empowerment means mandatorily engaging women in every step of electoral process, like the Congress is doing in Punjab, and not in giving “lollipops”.
On the issue of teachers, Sidhu accused the Kejriwal government of filling vacant posts by engaging guest teachers.
“On teachers and jobs, in 2015 there were 12,515 job vacancies of teachers in Delhi, and in 2021 there are 19,907 such job vacancies of teachers in Delhi… and you are filling most of the vacant posts by just guest lecturers,” said Sidhu.
He further questioned Kejriwal about eight lakh jobs and 20 new colleges his party had promised in 2015, dubbing them as “failed guarantees”. “On the contrary, the unemployment rate of Delhi has increased by almost five times in the last five years,” he alleged in another Twitter post.
Second attack in a week
This was Sidhu’s second big attack on the AAP within a week.
Earlier on November 24, targeting the AAP over its sop announcements ahead of the Punjab elections, Sidhu had said people won’t fall prey to populist measures without the backing of a policy framework, defined budget allocations and implementation metrics.
He had then said true leaders do not give “lollipops” and instead focus on building the foundations of society and economy.
Kejriwal has also promised up to 300 units of free electricity for each household, 24-hour power supply and free treatment and medicines at government hospitals if the AAP forms the government in Punjab.
