AAP faces unprecedented intimidation, seeks Delhi sweep, Arvind Kejriwal, AAP, Aam Aadmi Party, Delhi Elections, BJP, Intimidation, Politics, India

The AAP National Convenor said this while addressing a gathering of Mandal-level office-bearers of the party at Pitampura in Delhi on Saturday.

Stressing that the stakes for Delhi’s future are higher than ever, he asserted that the BJP is aiming to “dismantle the progress made under the AAP rule”.

Speaking at the event, Kejriwal expressed optimism over the AAP’s ability to secure a bigger mandate than in the previous elections. He called for unity within the party and left no room for internal conflict.

Also present at the event were senior AAP leaders and former ministers Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain, CM Atishi, Rajya Sabha MPs Sandeep Pathak & Sanjay Singh, AAP Delhi Chairman Gopal Rai along with all the vice presidents of the state, Mandal -incharges, Mandal Presidents and ‘Sangathan Mantris’.

The partygoers also welcomed Satyendar Jain as a hero, who met all the workers for the first time after he was granted bail yesterday. He spent about two years in prison for “money laundering” through several firms allegedly linked to him. The party workers enthusiastically gave him a standing ovation, while senior leaders garlanded him on stage.

The AAP National Convenor urged the party workers to approach the next assembly elections in Delhi with the same zeal and patriotism as the freedom fighters.

He drew parallels between the next parliamentary elections and India’s freedom struggle, invoking the names of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev and Subhas Chandra Bose. “If Bhagat Singh had worked part-time, if Rajguru, Sukhdev, Ashfaqulla Khan had worked part-time, if Subhas Chandra Bose, Babasaheb Ambedkar or Gandhiji had spent even half a day on this, our country would not have become independent. This is the second fight for freedom.”

“And in this second struggle for freedom, I am proud that our people went to prison and came out. I am not concerned whether we come to power or not. My concern is what will happen if we do not win to these schools?”

Kejriwal accused the BJP of trying to sabotage the progress made in Delhi over the past decade through “orchestrated disruptions”, including legal action against key AAP leaders and “administrative roadblocks” by the lieutenant governor’s office.

“When they put all of us – me, Satyendar Jain, Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh, Vijay Nair, Vibhav and others – in jail, their aim was to break the party. But the party remained united, and the biggest reason because that is all of you – our employees, our Mandal Prabharis, our Vidhan Sabha executives, our MLAs and all the office bearers of our party. You are all responsible for making the party so strong today.

In a scathing criticism of the BJP’s governance, Kejriwal noted: ‘Perhaps no party in the history of India has been harassed as much as we have been by these individuals. People come to me and tell me about the state of affairs – they have left a mess everywhere, rubbish everywhere, stopped road repairs, overflowed the sewers, stopped maintaining and cleaning them.

“In some areas, our MLAs and workers have told me that they have even dumped cement bags into the drains to block them. Who does that? Who ruins his own city, his own country? Only traitors, those who betray their nation, do such things – things that even an enemy of the country would do. How can someone who claims to be a patriot harm his own country in this way? What dirty politics!” he further added.

He further outlined how several schemes such as the Farishtey scheme for accident victims and the free healthcare initiative were ‘stalled’ by the BJP in the past year, only to be restarted by AAP.

He alleged that the BJP was aiming to dismantle all the work done by the AAP in the last five years as their government is ‘questioned’ in 22 states.

When I went to campaign in Gujarat, people asked the BJP, ‘Kejriwal has given free electricity in Delhi and Punjab, why haven’t you done it here?’ In Madhya Pradesh, people asked, ‘Why no free electricity, bus rides for women and good roads here?’ These questions are arising across the country. So their aim is to stop our work in Delhi so that these questions do not spread,” he said.

He further criticized the BJP’s ‘divisive politics’ and called it a betrayal of national interest.

He claimed, “For the first time, a party has set an example of governance in the form of AAP. What we have achieved in education, healthcare, electricity, water, bus travel, teeth, pensions, roads – no other party has done this in the history of India.”

Someone asked me, “Arvind, what will happen to you if you don’t win the elections?” I said, that’s not the question. The question is: what will happen to you? What will happen to your family if the Aam Aadmi Party does not win? If we don’t win, electricity prices will rise again. If the Aam Aadmi Party does not come to power, we will have to fast again as electricity rates will rise again. Your paths will break again. Your water becomes impure again. Your water bill will skyrocket. In Delhi, there used to be power cuts for eight hours,” he claimed

“In the 22 states where the BJP is in power, not a single state has 24-hour electricity. Ask Uttar Pradesh, go to nearby Ghaziabad – do they get electricity 24 hours a day? No. But Delhi does. So Delhi will return to the same situation. This election is about saving Delhi,” the AAP president said.

Concluding, he spoke about the open letter he has written to the people of Delhi, outlining the stakes of the upcoming elections and urging citizens to continue to support AAP’s vision for the city.

“Now we have to deliver this letter to every household. From tomorrow, from the 20th to the 29th, you have to distribute this letter to every house and shop in Delhi. Train your teams. Sandeep Pathak will tell you how to train, how we have to divide the seats and what we have to do. I am confident that this time we will get two more seats than last time, and not two less,” he said.

Manish Sisodia also addressed the party members and said the BJP tried to break the AAP by jailing “me, Arvind Kejriwal and Satyendar Jain” but failed to “weaken the spirit of ground volunteers”.

Delhi Chief Minister Atishi also said that the BJP was trying to destroy the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) by arresting its leaders like Satyendar Jain, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh.

She said, “We all need to work together to make Arvind Kejriwal Chief Minister of Delhi for the fourth time.”

Delhi Minister Gopal Rai said the BJP thought AAP leaders were like “Abhimanyu who would fall into their trap; but Arvind Kejriwal turned out to be Arjun.” (ANI)