Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday announced an alliance with Kerala's Twenty20 Party. He said the name of the alliance will be People's Welfare Alliance.
Kerala has so far witnessed only a bipolar contest between the Congress and the Left. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has always been a small player in the southern state.
The AAP, which recently won the Assembly polls in Punjab by a massive margin, is making an attempt to become a pan-India party. In order to achieve this, the upcoming polls in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh will be very crucial.
Coming back to Kerala, Kejriwal today addressed the gathering in the presence of Twenty20 Party head Sabu Jacob. His visit assumes significance in the wake of speculation that AAP and Twenty20 would field a joint candidate in the upcoming Thrikkakkara assembly byelection.
Addressing a public gathering of Twenty20 Party and AAP Kerala volunteers in Kochi, the Delhi Chief Minister said, "Kerala is God's own place. Such a beautiful place, such beautiful people! 10 years ago, nobody knew Arvind Kejriwal. Today, we have governments in Delhi and Punjab. This was all because of God. Now, who wants AAP to form government in Kerala?"
"When I fasted for 15 days, doctors said I won't survive. But here I am. All because of God. Our newly formed party's candidates including homemakers, students, and mobile repairers, defeated the sitting Chief Minister of Punjab and Delhi. All because of God," he said.
Kejriwal further mentioned that a poor labourer in Delhi gets over Rs 15,000 as minimum wage that is the highest in India. "On top of that, labourers get quality healthcare, education, transport for women, electricity, water, everything for free. This is possible because of the honest AAP government," he said.
He also promised free power if elected to power in the southern state.
He said, "Inverter, generator shops have been shut in Delhi because of 24x7 power supply, which is free of cost...Do the people of Kerala not want free electricity too?"
"If you want politics, riots& corruption you can go to them (other political parties) if you want development, schools&hospitals you should come to us. Other parties will never provide education to your children because they want to do riots & hooliganism," he added.
Watch Video:
This is the first visit of Kejriwal to Kerala after he won the Delhi assembly elections for the second consecutive term in 2020.
