Rahul Gandhi compares Arvind Kejriwal to PM over ‘fake promises’, he hits back
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Monday tore into AAP, an ally of the INDIA bloc, and equated Arvind Kejriwal with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing both of them of making false promises.
Minutes later, Kejriwal hit back, saying Rahul Gandhi “abused him” and he was fighting to “save the Congress”. Addressing a rally in northeast Delhi’s Seelampur, the Gandhi scion touched upon the issue of a nationwide caste census and said that he never heard a word about it from both PM Modi and Kejriwal.
“You ask Kejriwal ji whether he wants reservations for the backward and a caste census. When I talk about the caste census, I don’t hear a word from both PM Modi and Kejriwal. There is no difference between Kejriwal and PM Modi as they both make false promises,” he said.
Rahul Gandhi’s remarks came at a time when tensions between Congress and AAP have been simmering since joining hands in Delhi last year during the Lok Sabha elections. Neither of the parties won a single seat in the national capital in the parliamentary polls.
During the rally, Rahul Gandhi alleged that PM Modi and Kejriwal failed to reduce inflation despite promising to do so and asserted that the poor were becoming poorer and the rich richer in India.
“PM Modi and Kejriwal do not want the backward and minorities to get their due. They are silent on the caste census,” Rahul Gandhi said, adding that the Congress would raise the reservation cap if the party formed the government in Delhi.
Raking up Gautam Adani’s bribery case, in which the industrialist had been charged by US prosecutors with paying USD 265 million (around Rs 2,029 crore) in bribes to get solar energy contracts, Rahul Gandhi accused Kejriwal of maintaining silence over the issue.
“Has Kejriwal ji ever spoken about Adani? We want equality and ‘bhaagidaari’ (due) for the poor and minorities. I am speaking with clarity that we will not allow the country to be run by one businessman,” he said.
Lashing out at Kejriwal, the Gandhi scion accused him of running a “clean Delhi propaganda”, where he promised to turn the national capital into Paris. He said instead, corruption, pollution and inflation rose.
“Kejriwal ji said when the Sheila Dikshit government was in power, he said he would make a clean Delhi. But now, there is so much pollution. Inflation and corruption are touching sky-high. We will remove corruption if we come to power,” he said.
Recently, the AAP said that it would consult other parties of the INDIA bloc to remove the Congress from the alliance after it filed a complaint against Arvind Kejriwal accusing him of “misleading and deceiving” the public with promises of “non-existent” welfare schemes.
Major Opposition parties like the Trinamool Congress, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Samajwadi Party have extended their support to AAP in the upcoming Delhi Assembly polls, leaving the Congress isolated in the national capital.
During the rally, Rahul Gandhi said that there was a battle between two ideologies in the country – one who stood firm in protecting the Constitution and another who was destroying it.
Accusing the BJP and RSS of trampling the Constitution, he said, “They make brothers fight each other. Every day, PM Modi and BJP violate BR Ambedkar’s constitution. In this country, love will defeat hatred. As long as I am alive, if any Indian is attacked, no matter which religion or caste he belongs to, I will protect him.”
In response, Kejriwal tweeted, “Today, Rahul Gandhi came to Delhi. He abused me a lot. But I will not comment on his statements. His fight is to save Congress, my fight is to save the country.”
Delhi will vote in a single phase in all 70 Assembly constituencies on February 5. Results will be declared on February 8.
While AAP, in power since 2015, is seeking a hat-trick, the BJP is eyeing a return to the national capital after 27 years. On the other hand, the Congress, which ruled from 1998 to 2013, is seeking redemption.