Parties dividing Haryana on caste lines: Kejriwal

Health and education are not on their (INLD, Congress and BJP) agenda. That’s why the condition of schools is abysmal in the state, Kejriwal said.

Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said Haryana’s ruling BJP and opposition INLD and Congress have been seeking votes by dividing people on caste lines.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia during an Aadm Aadmi Party rally in Jhajjar on Monday. (Manoj Dhaka/HT)

“The INLD and Congress ask for votes saying they are the party for Jats. The BJP seeks votes in the name of non-Jats. Important issues such as health and education are not on their agenda. That’s why the condition of government schools in Haryana is so abysmal,” Kejriwal said at a gathering of supporters at Beri in Jhajjar.

Accompanied by Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and health minister Satyendra Kumar Jain, he inspected three government schools in Beri and said they were being run in damaged buildings without electricity and with fewer teachers than required. “People from Haryana asked me to see the condition of government schools. Parents told me that the authorities conducted repairs after learning that I’d be visiting. Even then the condition is poor. If the BJP government can’t maintain schools and hospitals, it should hand over the charge to us. We will improve things in a month,” he said.

With the 2019 assembly elections in sight, Kejriwal said, “People tell me I should start working hard to get Haryana. I tell them I don’t work for power. It’s the responsibility of the people of Haryana to make us win if they want good schools and cost-effective healthcare.”

He said his government had built schools and hospitals that could give private counterparts a run for their money.

Talking to mediapersons on the sidelines of the event, Kejriwal said INLD member of Parliament Dushyant Chautala, who is facing backlash in his party, is welcome to join the AAP.