AAP manifesto lists 15 ‘Kejriwal’s guarantees;’ focus on welfare, infra

Reacting to Kejriwal’s 15 guarantees, the BJP said that they are all “false promises” that won’t ever be fulfilled

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal on Monday unveiled a list of 15 “guarantees” ahead of the Delhi elections, reiterating a raft of promises the party has made over the past few weeks, including a ₹2,100 cash hand-out for poor women, free treatment for the elderly in all hospitals, and an ₹18,000 monthly allowance for Hindu and Sikh priests, even as he underscored that all ongoing welfare promises would be continued if the party returns to power.

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal in New Delhi on Monday. (HT Photo)

The party’s promises also include funds for resident welfare bodies to hire private security, waiving inflated water bills, overhauling Delhi’s sewer network, financial aid for auto and e-rickshaw drivers, scholarships for Dalit students, and free bus rides for male students.

“We coined the term ‘guarantee’ first in the country. The BJP stole it after us. But the difference is, we fulfil our guarantees, and they do not,” Kejriwal said.

He acknowledged that the AAP manifesto, called “Kejriwal ki Guarantee”, included three promises that the party made in the run-up to the 2020 elections, but could not live up to – 24x7 clean water for every household, cleaning the Yamuna, and upgrading Delhi’s roads to European standards. He said that was due to the Covid pandemic. “Today, I openly admit in front of everyone that we were unable to fulfill these three promises in the last five years. Our government came to power in February 2020, and by March, the Covid-19 pandemic began. The pandemic lasted two-and-a-half years. After that, they started playing their game of “jail-jail-jail” with us,” Kejriwal said.

“Now we are all out of jail, and we’ve dealt with the setbacks… Over the next five years, we will fulfill these three promises,” he added.

Reacting to the Kejriwal’s 15 guarantees, the BJP said that they are all “false promises” that won’t ever be fulfilled.

A win for the AAP in the February 5 elections would be historic – a party formed in 2012 would return to power for a third consecutive term.

However, the AAP faces a vigorous pushback from the BJP, which is eyeing a return to the Delhi Vidhan Sabha for the first time since 1998 with a high-octane campaign heralded by its top leaders.

The AAP’s manifesto is an extension of the party’s core politics – a balance of welfare programmes, concessions for various demographic groups and a focus on the city’s basic infrastructure.

Kejriwal also signed a guarantee card pledging that the AAP will begin handing out ₹2,100 to women every month as soon as it forms the government in the national capital. “I, Arvind Kejriwal, guarantee that as soon as the Aam Aadmi Party government is formed, I will first start ‘Mahila Samman Rashi Yojana’ for my mothers and sisters,” said the card.

He also stressed that the AAP will continue all current subsidy programmes in the Capital.

Kejriwal also alleged that if the BJP comes to power, it will stop the free schemes in Delhi — a charge the BJP has denied.

“BJP leaders have made it clear that they will stop free education, electricity, Mohalla clinics, free bus rides when it comes to power in Delhi. The closure of these schemes will lead to an additional financial burden of ₹25,000 monthly on households,” he said.

BJP Lok Sabha MP and chairman of the party’s Delhi manifesto committee Ramvir Singh Bidhuri described the AAP’s vision document as a “desperate bundle of lies”. “He has made promises to the public while he has not been able to fulfil even the previous promises. On the other hand, he is trying to scare the people with baseless and false claims that BJP will stop the welfare schemes,” Bidhuri said.

In response, Congress leader and the party’s candidate for the New Delhi constituency, Sandeep Dikshit, accused AAP of not focusing on other issues that plague Delhi. “AAP has no other agenda or work plan except for offering free SOPs. Unemployment is a huge problem across Delhi but they have neither addressed it so far nor do they have any plans for it,” said Dikshit.