Our work in Delhi a blessing, real aapda is BJP, says Kerjiwal

Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister launched a slew of projects in Delhi and called for people to defeat the AAP in the upcoming assembly polls

Hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi dubbed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) a disaster (“aapda”) in a wordplay on its name, former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal retaliated by accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of being the real “aapda” in the Capital due to the deteriorating law-and-order situation.

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal. (ANI)

Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister launched a slew of projects in Delhi and called for people to defeat the AAP in the upcoming assembly polls.

Dismissing Modi’s critique, Kejriwal lauded his government’s achievements in education, health, and power, declaring them a “blessing” rather than a “disaster” for Delhiites. He also mocked BJP’s lack of a chief ministerial candidate, a narrative, or an agenda.

“Several times, the Prime Minister said that an ‘aapda’ has gripped Delhi. But the real aapda is within the BJP. The BJP is facing three aapdas — the BJP does not have a chief ministerial face in Delhi, the BJP has no narrative, the BJP has no agenda for this election,” the AAP chief said.

“There indeed is an aapda in Delhi — law and order. In Delhi, gangsters openly fire bullets… Women are screaming in fear, traders are pleading for protection from gangsters… But their voices don’t reach [Union home minister] Amit Shah. The PM should tell Amit Shah to devote a little time to fixing Delhi’s law and order situation,” he said.

Modi had also condemned Kejriwal over the alleged extravagant expenditure to redevelop 6, Flag Staff Road — a bungalow where the AAP convener lived during his tenure as chief minister between 2015 and 2024.

Responding to the jibe over the redevelopment of his residence — labeled “Sheesh Mahal” by BJP — Kejriwal hit back, highlighting what he termed was Modi’s “extravagant lifestyle”.

“A person who builds a ₹2,700 crore house for himself, travels in an ₹8,400 crore airplane, and wears ₹10 lakh suits shouldn’t be talking about all this. I don’t want to indulge in personal accusations. I don’t practice abusive politics or make personal attacks. I could do that too, but in the last 10 years, I’ve done so much work that I want to focus on politics based on my work.”

Kejriwal also alleged that the BJP has not done any work in Delhi since coming to power at the Centre in 2014.

“If they had done any work, the Prime Minister would have mentioned them in his 43-minute speech today, and the PM would have showcased his work instead of resorting to such abuse,” he said.

He criticised the BJP’s failure to meet its 2020 election promise of providing permanent homes by 2022, contrasting it with the government’s modest handover of 1,700 houses while millions remain in slums.

Chief minister Atishi echoed Kejriwal’s sentiments, pointing out on X that while AAP built schools, colleges, and clinics, the BJP had little to show for a decade in power. “PM Modi, if your central government had done even one thing for the people of Delhi in the last 10 years, then you wouldn’t have had to abuse us today. If you had to compete with Arvind Kejriwal, you should have done better work than him. We built 3 universities, you could have built 30. We built 550 mohalla clinics, you could have built 5000. Maybe then today you would have had work to count instead of abusing,” she said.

Kejriwal also claimed that the beneficiaries of around 3,000 houses in Kalkaji in November 2022 are living a “terrible life” which is “worse than hell”, without drinking water and sewage.

“Instead of providing homes, the BJP displaced slum dwellers, leaving families homeless… In the last five years, they (the Centre) have demolished several jhuggis and made 278,796 people homeless... These people are enemies of the poor,” he said.

The AAP chief said that Modi has laid the foundation stone for three Delhi University-related projects — academic blocks for east and west campuses, and a college in Najafgarh — for the first time since 2014.

“In these 10 years, while you were laying foundation stones, I built 22,000 classrooms, three new universities, 11 new vocational colleges, and six university campuses. Our government is a government that works, not one that just lays foundation stones before elections and leaves,” he said.

On the PM’s remarks on the Delhi government not implementing the Ayushman Bharat Yojana — a national public health insurance scheme — in the Capital, Kejriwal said that his government’s only goal is the welfare of the city’s residents.

“The central government’s Ayushman Bharat scheme states that anyone with a scooter, car, permanent house, TV, or refrigerator is not eligible for treatment or hospital services under it. So, who is left? Almost no one in Delhi qualifies. On the other hand, our scheme says that even if someone owns a Mercedes car and needs treatment, we will provide it for free. So, whose scheme is better, ours or theirs?”

Kejriwal was referring to the Sanjivani Yojana, under which all Delhi residents aged 60 years and above will be provided free treatment in government and private hospitals in the city, and the cost will be borne by the state. To be sure, the state health department has stated that the scheme is “non-existent”, and that no such scheme had been notified by the Delhi government, highlighting the internal discord within the administration.