Jalandhar bypoll: Vote for AAP if you want development, says Kejriwal

Ahead of high-stakes May 10 Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday appealed to people of the constituency to vote for his party if they want development, claiming the Congress did nothing for them in 60 years.

Addressing a gathering along with Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann in favour of party candidate Sushil Kumar Rinku in Jalandhar, Kejriwal said: “We are doing good work and with honesty. Vote for us in place of the Congress. Give us one chance.”

People of Jalandhar voted for the Congress for the past 60 years, but the party had done nothing for their welfare, the Delhi CM said

“If you vote for the Congress, what benefit will you get? In Punjab, it is our government, we have to get the work done. If you vote for the Congress, they will fight and indulge in ‘tu tu mein mein’. If you want fights, vote for them, but if you have to get all your works done, get roads built, landfills cleaned, then give one chance to the AAP,” Kejriwal said.

During the 2022 assembly elections, people of Punjab voted for the AAP with open hearts. “You elected 92 AAP legislators, elected Bhagwant Mann as your chief minister and this government is living up to your expectations. The AAP government of Punjab has fulfilled all its major guarantees in just one year. Some people say we don’t know how to do politics. We are not here to do politics, we are here to serve the people,” he said.

The AAP leader touched upon his party’s poll promise of giving 300 units of free power every month to residents of Punjab, saying parties like the BJP, Congress and SAD used to mock it for this. Kejriwal said just within three months of coming to power “we have showed them how this was done”.

“I was told by Punjab finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema that money is coming now under every head. Money used to come earlier too, but all this used to go into their pockets, into the Swiss bank accounts of leaders of these parties. Now, all this money is going into the government treasury. And with this money, your electricity bills are becoming zero,” he said.

He added 28,000 Punjab youths have been given government jobs during the past one year and in the coming years, several thousand more jobs will be given.

Kejriwal further said there is no big government hospital in Jalandhar. “We will set up a big hospital like PGIMER,” he said, adding landfill sites will be cleaned and roads built.

He said blue (ration) card holders were facing some problems, as cards of some beneficiaries have got deleted by mistake, but he assured that everyone will get ration.

Hitting out at the previous regimes, Kejriwal said for 75 years, they have destroyed Punjab, “but we will set things right and all problems will be solved though it may take time”.

“We eliminated mafia raj, including sand mafia. Now, people are getting sand at affordable rates,” the AAP supremo said.

He alleged that scholarships for Scheduled Caste students were usurped during the previous regime. “The minister in the previous government responsible has been sent to jail by our government. Now, children are getting scholarship. I am told scholarship of some students is pending, but they too will get it in next few days,” Kejriwal added.

Addressing the gathering, chief minister Bhagwant Mann said this election is not going to change or form a government, but casting your vote to the AAP will create history.

“I raised the issues of people from 2014-22 in Parliament, then you elected me as your chief minister. Now, all you have to do is to vote for the AAP candidate, I’ll teach Sushil Rinku how to raise issues of the people and how to get the works of Punjab done there,” he said.

Mann said that his government has ended corruption and arrested corrupt leaders and officers. “Victory in Jalandhar bypoll will encourage the AAP government and we will work harder to make Punjab ‘rangla’ again,” Mann said.

Cong flays AAP supremo

Reacting to Kejriwal’s appeal asking people to vote for the AAP to get their works done, leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa said this showed nervousness of the AAP, especially Kejriwal.

“It is unfortunate that Kejriwal showed traits of dictator Adolf Hitler not that of Mahatma Gandhi. Kejriwal has resorted to threatening people to cast votes for AAP in a rally in which people were called from all over the state and not only from the Jalandhar constituency,” Bajwa said.

UPP extends support to AAP

The United Punjab Party (UPP), formed by Christian representatives, including Pentecostal churches, who had earlier announced to contest the bypoll, has announced to support the AAP in the bypoll. Party candidate Surjit Thapar will withdraw in favour of the AAP nominee.