Ahmedabad: Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Monday tore into the ruling BJP in its best Hindutva state asking “what kind of Hindus are those who want to question free healthcare” and asserted that his party would continue to give “free ki revdi”.
On his yet another weekly tour of poll-bound Gujarat, Kejriwal took on the lion in his own den, he said, “These people (BJP) keep saying that Kejriwal distributes free ki revdi. Tell me who doesn’t like free revdi? Who doesn’t want a good and free education? We will give free ki revdi. Do whatever you want.”
He was speaking at one of his party’s town halls for autorickshaw drivers in Ahmedabad, where he also accepted a rickshaw driver’s dinner invitation.
Turning the tables on the BJP, which often taunts him for giving away freebies, the AAP chief said, “They have said they will not give free ki revdi. That means they will not give free education and free services to the people. This also means ‘send your children to private schools’.”
“Their children study abroad, but they have an anathema to poor children availing basic education in a government school,” he went on.
He referred to the mohalla clinics his government had started in Delhi and promised the same in Gujarat if elected to power, Kejriwal rubbed it in, asking, “What kind of Hindus are they? Hinduism teaches us to treat an illness free of cost, and they say treatment should not be free,” he said.
He reiterated his promise of free power to Gujarat, “The CM of Gujarat avails of 4,000 units free electricity a month. They cannot even provide at least 300 units free for their people.”
Taunting at the State’s dry law, he said, “Autorickshaw drivers require licences to drive autos, but liquor sellers don’t! The auto drivers here told me about bribes being taken from them under the guise of IPC section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by a public servant).”
He went on, “In Delhi, everything from licence renewal to registration to permits or anything related to transport, officers come and deliver their services on a phone call. We will provide the same facility in Gujarat, if we win.”
He asked the autorickshaw drivers if any BJP chief minister or minister came and met them face to face during the last 27 years of their rule. “We are doing it, because we respect you. During the two lockdowns in Delhi, we gave Rs 5,000 each to about 1.5 lakh autorickshaw drivers,” he said.
Kejriwal claimed that the media was scared of the BJP but his party would still form the government in Gujarat with the help of social media. “The BJP has scared everyone, particularly the media. I urge everyone to record my speech here and convey it to everyone through social media. We will form an AAP government with the help of social media,” he asserted.
After the meeting, he pasted an AAP poster on an autorickshaw. The town hall was also attended by Gujarat AAP chief Gopal Italia, general secretary Manoj Sorathiya and national joint general secretary Isudan Gadhvi.
