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After Goa CM's jibe, Arvind Kejriwal accuses him of copying AAP's poll promises
The AAP, which is eyeing to form the government in the coastal state, announced a slew of welfare schemes for residents including free electricity, increasing employment opportunities and the creation of a skill university among others.
Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP)'s national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday accused Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant of copying the AAP's promises in Goa, which will go into elections next year.
The AAP, which is eyeing to form the government in the coastal state, announced a slew of welfare schemes for residents including free electricity, increasing employment opportunities and the creation of a skill university among others.
On November 1, the AAP promised free pilgrimage to the four religious places-- Ayodhya, Shirdi, Velankanni and Ajmer Sharif- if it wins the elections in Goa.
Also Read| Will give free pilgrimage if voted in, says Arvind Kejriwal
“I want to say that Pramod Sawant is copying us. When I said we will give electricity free, he gave water free. When I said we will provide employment allowance, he announced about 10,000 jobs, and when I spoke about pilgrimages, he announced his scheme,” Kejriwal, who arrived in Goa on Sunday for a two-day visit, told reporters.
In recent days, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Goa government and the AAP have engaged in a war of words over copying of welfare schemes for the state's population.
Chief minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday accused Arvind Kejriwal of copying his government-sponsored pilgrimages and passing it off as his own.
Calling Kejriwal a ‘copy master’, Sawant said, "I had announced it in the budget and my scheme was ready too. My scheme has been notified too. Registration has also begun for those who want to undertake 'teerth yatra'."
However, the AAP hit back by saying that the Delhi government's teerth yatra yojana was announced a year before Pramod Sawant became Goa's chief minister.
Also Read| ‘Copy master’: Pramod Sawant on Kejriwal’s free pilgrimage promise to Goa voters
“It was the AAP who first announced the Mukhyamantri Teertha Yatra Yojna in Delhi three years ago. Recently, AAP Chief Arvind Kejriwal also added Ayodhya to the list,” AAP's Goa convener Rahul Mhambre told news agency ANI on Thursday.
"Pramod Sawant's schemes only remain on paper and never get implemented on the ground, be it promises on jobs or recent free water programmes,' Mhambre said.
He also accused the Goa chief minister and other BJP-ruled states of attempting to find new things from the Kejriwal model and announce it.
(With agency inputs)
