Ahmedabad: Exhorting a large gathering in Saurashtra to vote for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), party convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday hit out at the ruling BJP and said those who want employment and education for their kids should vote for AAP while those who want spurious liquor should vote for the BJP.
Referring to last week’s hooch tragedy in the state that claimed 42 lives while at least 100 others were hospitalised, he took potshots at Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and state BJP president CR Paatil “for not even bothering to visit the victims’ families”.
“I asked a BJP leader… it should have been the duty of the Gujarat CM to immediately reach there. He told me it won’t affect our votes,” Kejriwal said. “They calculate only the votes. Everything can’t be measured in votes, there is something like human compassion to reach out to those in distress. Especially when you are in the government.”
Kejriwal said, “I was shocked to learn that illicit liquor worth thousands of crores is sold in Gujarat day in and day out for many years. I asked the families of the hooch tragedy victims and they told me liquor is available openly and they all drink every day.”
“Not only in villages, it is the same story in the cities. In fact, it is shocking that people can get home delivery of illicit liquor,” he added. “Who runs this huge racket?”
The AAP chief said, “I appeal to the people and exhort them to pick the Aam Aadmi Party if you want quality education free and employment for your youth. You may vote for the BJP if you wish to feed them spurious liquor.”
The crowd responded with a loud no when he said, “Do you want this for your youth?” It cheered “yes, yes” when he asked, “Do you want free education and employment?”
Pleading with the youth not to commit suicide because of unemployment, Kejriwal cited the instance of a 23-year-old who took his life out of frustration in Gujarat last week. He said, “I am telling every boy and every girl from here today that there is nothing to worry, their elder brother is here now. I appeal the same to fathers and mothers that now your son has arrived, nobody should commit suicide.
“The elections are in December. It is a matter of just five months. I am here to give you a guarantee. Unlike other political parties who promise Rs15 lakh in every bank account in their manifesto but admit it was a poll-eve jhumla after winning, we do what we say. My intentions are honest, I am a well-educated person. When I make a guarantee it is after careful study of its implementation.” The crowd heard him with rapt attention.
Kejriwal offered five guarantees related to employment. In the first five years of AAP rule, he said, every unemployed person will have a job. He also promised that AAP will create 10 lakh government jobs.
His third guarantee was that every unemployed youth would get a stipend of Rs3,000 a month until they got jobs. The fourth was to bring in legislation providing for stringent penalties in government exam paper leaks, which is a regular phenomenon in Gujarat. The AAP chief's fifth guarantee was to make job enrolment in the cooperative sector transparent “unlike now when nepotism and corruption is the order of the day.”
