Centre is detrimental to growth of Oppn states: Bharadwaj

“The central government has tried to stall policies – power subsidy, CCTV installation, among others – but we delivered,” Bharadwaj said in the interview.

Ahead of next month’s crucial assembly elections in Delhi, senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Saurabh Bharadwaj spoke to HT’s Sanjeev K Jha and Ridhima Gupta on a range of issues. Edited excerpts:

Saurabh Bharadwaj (HT Photo)

Do you think the people of Delhi have suffered because the L-G and the state government have been sparring?

I believe that at least for the last five-seven years, the central government has created roadblocks for every state government which is ruled by opposition parties – be it in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal or Punjab. Elected governments of these states had to go to the top court of the country to get their bills converted into laws. This is shameful. The Supreme Court had to intervene. The central government is detrimental to the growth of any other state. People are suffering across the country, not just in Delhi. Things were not like this during the time of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, so it’s not something that is happening because of the BJP but because of the current leadership of the BJP. The central government has tried to stall policies – power subsidy, CCTV installation, among others – but we delivered. .

The AAP has been in power for 10 years in Delhi. Isn’t there a sense of anti-incumbency in the Capital?

People are satisfied with the work done by Arvind Kejriwal’s government. I am not working as hard in this election as I did in 2013, 2015 or 2020. The reason is that wherever I go, people are very welcoming. At public meetings or during door-to-door campaigning, people tell me that I needn’t show up because they can see that the work is being done. Before 2013, MLAs never visited villages or unauthorised colonies. Even in villages where there are plenty BJP supporters, they know we will get their work done. On TV, they show videos of dogs inside mohalla clinics, so the viewer thinks it’s game over for Arvind Kejriwal but it’s all propaganda by our political rivals. The people who benefit from the mohalla clinic know that these are just lies. The change that people have seen will be reflected in this election. Look at the work we have done in unauthorised colonies.

The BJP has called the AAP “anti-Purvanchali” due to Arvind Kejriwal’s recent remark. How does the party plan to counter that or woo this powerful bloc?

What Arvind Kejriwal said was a logical thing. Purvanchali voters from his constituency have been cut and instead BJP workers from UP, Bihar are being added. It’s not an attack on the people from UP and Bihar. Most of the Purvanchalis stay in unauthorised colonies and they know that whatever work has happened in these colonies has happened in the last 10 years.

How has “Sheesh Mahal” become a talking point?

I think the 2025 election is the most unorganised election I have seen the BJP contest in Delhi. They don’t seem prepared at all. They have no narrative. They have been jumping from one narrative to another because they are not finding traction on the ground. They started with excise but now they don’t talk about it. Even after two years of pushing this story on Instagram and TV, people don’t even know what this excise scam is. Then they came to the Rohingya-Bangladeshi narrative but that didn’t work either. Then they came to “sheesh mahal”. Let’s say that the CM’s official residence in Delhi was reconstructed and renovated – for ₹33 crore as you claim. Let’s assume there’s a bar, a swimming pool and a golden toilet. And we are claiming that ₹2,700 crore was spent on building the PM’s residence. Both were built during Covid-19 times, so let’s take the media and tour both the residences. The BJP should be happy to do this. Even a tour of the White House can be booked online, so why not this? The BJP is now running away from this and has now started talking about Purvanchali voters. In this election, we are concentrating on electricity, water, roads, and welfare schemes.

If the AAP wins, what will it do to improve the health sector?

We are at different stages of construction of new blocks at different government hospitals and are building 7,000 dedicated ICU beds. In the next one year, we will add approximately 17,000 beds across Delhi government hospitals. Soon, we are going to begin conducting diagnostic tests in all government hospitals through the public-private partnership (PPP) model. Private vendors will be given space in these hospitals, and they will be responsible for maintaining diagnostic labs and we will pay them on a per-test basis.

The AAP claims that Delhi doesn’t need Ayushman Bharat Scheme as government hospitals are already giving quality free treatment but what about the many such hospitals where there is a shortage of doctors and medicines?

This situation was created by the L-G and the central government. Vacancies were not being filled but after the recent court order, work is happening at lightning speed.

Arvind Kejriwal is the CM face of AAP. What will happen to Atishi then, who is the current CM? Does she go back to being a minister? What has the party decided?

Yes, of course, Arvind Kejriwal is the CM face but right now there’s no conversation happening in the party about anyone. It’s premature. Once the party wins, it’s the CM’s prerogative who he wants in his cabinet.

67 seats in 2015, 62 seats in 2020. How many seats will the AAP win in 2025?

65-plus.