PM Has Just Gifted AAP 2% More Votes In Gujarat, Says Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi:

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi today over the CBI action on his deputy Manish Sisodia as a plan by the centre to hurt the Aam Aadmi Party, but one that will backfire.

“AAP’s vote share is up by 4 per cent in Gujarat since the raid on Manish Sisodia. It will increase to 6 per cent when he’s arrested,” Mr Kejriwal said amid preparations for the assembly election in Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state, due later this year. “If he is arrested twice, then we might form government in Gujarat,” Mr Kejriwal said in the Delhi assembly, drawing loud thumps on the desk by AAP MLAs. 

“We brought a confidence motion [in the Delhi assembly] today to prove that Operation Lotus will fail. None of our MLAs have switched sides,” Mr Kejriwal said, referring to the term often used by the opposition to mean sabotage by the BJP, whose election symbol has the lotus.

Fifty-nine out of 62 AAP MLAs were present for the vote of confidence. Out of the three absent, two are abroad and the third, Satyendar Jain, is in jail. In total, 58 MLAs voted in favour of the confidence vote; one is the Speaker herself.

Mr Kejriwal highlighted the work the Aam Aadmi Party, or AAP, government has done to improve state-run schools in the national capital.

“Both my children studied in IIT (Indian Institute of Technology). I wish to provide the same education to every child in India,” he said.

Spending on government school infrastructure has been a thorny issue for the Kejriwal government, amid allegations by the opposition BJP that the AAP has only worked on the optics for improving schools, but hasn’t done much on the ground.

“Absolutely corrupt party lacks educated people while hardcore honest party has those with good education, genuine IIT degrees,” Mr Kejriwal said.

The BJP claims of a “school scam” involving allegations that the Arvind Kejriwal government inflated the cost of rebuilding schools and misused funds. The party also accuses the AAP government of falsely promising 500 new schools, which were never really built.