IIT Degrees vs Those Who Lack Education: Arvind Kejriwal Jabs BJP

Arvind Kejriwal said both his children studied in IIT (Indian Institutes of Technology)

New Delhi:

Arvind Kejriwal, targeting the BJP as a “corrupt party” compared to his “kattar imaandar (hardcore honest)” Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), flexed his IIT education and that of his children in his speech before a confidence vote that he won. 

“I am an ordinary person. I belong to an ordinary, middle-class family. I went to IIT, did mechanical engineering. Today, whatever I am is because of the opportunity I got,” said the Delhi Chief Minister, addressing the special Delhi Assembly session.

Mr Kejriwal said both his children studied in IIT (Indian Institutes of Technology), and he wanted to provide the “same education to every child in India”.

“Both my children studied in IIT. My dream is to provide to every child in India the same kind of education my children got. The high quality education that I got,” he said.

Projecting AAP as an alternative to the BJP, Mr Kejriwal said there are currently only two parties at the national level — ‘Kattar Imandar (hardcore honest) party and Kattar Beimaan (hardcore corrupt) party’.

“An absolutely corrupt party lacks educated people while a ‘hardcore honest’ party has people with good education, genuine IIT degrees,” he said, taking a dig at the BJP.

Accusing the BJP of horse-trading, Mr Kejriwal said: “They are spending Rs 20-50 crore to buy MLAs. Am I doing anything wrong if I want to build schools and hospitals.”

The Delhi Assembly passed Mr Kejriwal’s confidence motion as five BJP MLAs staged a walkout after their party colleagues were marshalled out of the assembly following a row.

AAP has 62 MLAs in the 70-member assembly and 59 were present today.

Mr Kejriwal said the numbers made it clear that the BJP’s alleged attempts to bribe his MLAs into switching parties and dislodge his government had failed.

The Chief Minister also said his party’s vote share in Gujarat had increased by four per cent after the CBI raids against his deputy Manish Sisodia. This would increase by two per cent “if Mr Sisodia is arrested”, he remarked.

“The CBI raided Mr Sisodia, went to his village and searched his bank locker. CBI people said they did not find anything against him but they are under pressure to arrest him,” Mr Kejriwal claimed.