Eyeing Gujarat polls, Arvind Kejriwal promises farm loan waiver if AAP voted to power

Ahmedabad: Unfazed by the acrimonious battle he fights with the Centre and Delhi’s Lieutenant-Governor VK Saxena, Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal keeps on visiting the BJP’s most prized state of Gujarat week after week ahead of the State elections due in December.

Continuing to keep up the pressure, this Friday he began his two-day visit with Dwarka in the Saurashtra region with a promise of loan waivers for farmers up to Rs 2 lakh in Gujarat.

His poll promises to farmers, which his party calls “guarantees”, include fee electricity for 12 hours during the day, buying crops at the minimum support price and compensation of ₹ 20,000 per acre of land in case of crop failure.

Along with the loan waiver, the AAP chief assured the farmers that if his party came to power the current land survey would be scrapped and a fresh survey would be undertaken.

Significantly, he promised that the command area of the Narmada Dam would be increased to ensure its benefits reached all across Gujarat. Kejriwal alleged that all the governments in Gujarat had always given the plight of the farmers the go-by but his party would take it up in right earnest.

“People wonder and want to know from me how a 10-year-old party could create miracles. It is just because of the blessings of the poor that the AAP is marching ahead,” the Delhi Chief Minister said.

In sharp comments on the ruling BJP as well as the Congress, Kejriwal asserted, “If you want free power and free education, vote for us. If you want corruption and goondaism, vote for them."

During his frequent visits with a missionary zeal, the AAP chief has given a slew of “guarantees” to the people of Gujarat. These include free education and better infrastructure in government schools and a tight leash on the private school fees, free and quality health-care facilities, free electricity up to 300 units a month, unemployment benefits of ₹ 3,000 a month, 10 lakh government jobs and a monthly allowance of ₹ 1,000 for women.

In a new campaign strategy, the AAP chief is likely to hold a town hall meeting with Village Computer Entrepreneurs (VCEs) as well as a dialogue with the village heads (sarpanch) in Surendranagar district.

He will discuss ways to deliver better services to rural citizens with the VCEs, who operate from eGram centres.