‘A BJP leader told me…’: Arvind Kejriwal in first rally ahead of Gujarat polls

Arvind Kejriwal also invited his Gujarat counterpart Bhupendra Patel to visit schools and hospitals in Delhi and not criticise the AAP government there "just like that".

Making yet another pitch for change in Gujarat, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday tried to sell his much-talked-about 'Delhi model', claiming that children of judges, officers and rickshaw wallas study sitting on the same bench in Delhi government schools.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal with Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) founder Chhotubhai Vasava holds a bow and an arrow during the 'Adivasi Sankalp Mahasammelan' in Bharuch on Sunday.(ANI)

"For 27 years, there is a BJP government in Gujarat. They made the schools worse. Even if you give the BJP five more years, it will not do anything. Give us a chance, if the government schools of Gujarat are not fixed in five years, throw us out," Kejriwal said at a rally in Gujarat's Bharuch.

"Government schools of Gujarat are in very bad condition. The future of millions of children is getting spoiled. But like Delhi, Gujarat can also change. In Delhi government schools, children of judges, officers and rickshaw wallas study sitting on the same bench," Kejriwal, in his first public rally in Gujarat ahead of the Assembly elections, said.

The Delhi chief minister also appealed to "good" Congress and BJP leaders to join the AAP.

During his speech, Kejriwal also took several jibes at the ruling BJP in the state. "I met a BJP leader. I asked why BJP does not work in Gujarat? He said 'we don't need to work. Congress is in our pocket, that's how we win'. The BJP has become very arrogant. Vote for the AAP to break their pride," he said.

He also said, "Today, I asked my driver if someone gets sick in the tribal area, where do you go? He said 'we go to the quacks or a private doctor in town'. The BJP has made bad conditions of the government hospitals in Gujarat in the last 27 years," he said.

Kejriwal also invited Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel to visit schools and hospitals in Delhi and not criticise the AAP government there"just like that".

The Delhi chief minister said while the ruling BJP and opposition Congress stand with the rich, he stands with Chhotu Vasava, the latter's younger brother and BTP's national president Mahesh Vasava and the state's poor people. "It is an irony that the two richest persons of our country come from Gujarat, and the poorest tribals of our country are also from Gujarat. In Dahod, Chhota Udepur, Aravalli, Dang -- there are many areas where some of the poorest people live," Kejriwal said at the 'Adivasi Sankalp Maha Sammelan' organised jointly with the BTP at Chanderiya village in Bharuch.

"The BJP and Congress stand with the rich...they are making the rich richer. I am here to tell you Chhotubhai and Maheshbhai that Kejriwal and AAP, we stand with you, we stand with the poor...Give us a chance, we will remove your poverty, educate your children, make hospitals for you and give you a job," he claimed. Kejriwal thanked the two BTP leaders for inviting him to the rally. "We will work together to change Gujarat," the AAP leader said.

In the 2017 state Assembly polls, the BTP had formed an alliance with the Congress and won two seats. On the occasion of Gujarat's foundation day on Sunday, Kejriwal also targeted the BJP over its state president CR Paatil, and claimed there cannot be a bigger insult to the state's people than the ruling party appointing "a man from Maharashtra" as its chief. "Who is the president of Gujarat BJP? CR Paatil. Where does he live? He lives in Maharashtra. The BJP could not find a president from among 6.5 crore Gujarat citizens...such an insult of the people of Gujarat," he said.