NEW DELHI: Senior BJP leader Amit Shah and his party’s ally JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar launched an all-out attack on AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday, saying some people are more interested in publicity than work.
The two National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders were addressing an election rally together in northeast Delhi’s Burari constituency that goes to polls on February 8 along with the other 69 assembly seats in the national capital.
They also questioned the work done by the Kejriwal government in the last five years. Bihar Chief Minister Kumar and Union Home Minister Shah slammed Kejriwal for “insulting” the people of Bihar and Purvanchal by saying that a person from the state buys a ticket to Delhi for Rs 500 and returns after availing free treatment worth Rs 5 lakhs.
Burari has a large population of Purvanchalis, who are people from eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and they play an important role in any election in Delhi. The BJP is contesting the assembly polls in Delhi in alliance with the JD(U) and the Lok Janshakti Party. Shah asserted that Delhi belongs equally to the people of Bihar and Purvanchal as it belongs to the locals. The two leaders were canvassing for JD(U) candidate in Burari Shailendra Kumar.
The home minister said if there is a competition to tell lies, Kejriwal will stand first. “He will leave Hitler behind in spreading lies and propaganda,” Shah said. Questioning Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s claim of improving the education system in Delhi, Kumar asked how many schools did he build in the national capital in the last five years. Bihar being a poor state has done a phenomenal job in areas of education, electricity and health, and strengthening road and transport infrastructure, he added.
“Some people are more interested in publicity and advertisements. Some people have the habit of praising oneself. We don’t do that…Those who got the mandate to govern Delhi did nothing” Kumar said, without naming Kejriwal. The JD(U) chief said after taking over the reins of Bihar, his government built 22,000 primary schools, recruited 3000 to 4000 teachers and ensured that the dropout rates of students, especially girls, go down.
In an apparent reference to the Anaj Mandi fire in north Delhi in December 2019 that killed 45 people, Kumar said Kejriwal should have worked on strengthening power infrastructure, the way the Bihar government has done. Majority of those killed in the fire were from Bihar.
The JD (U) chief also welcomed the Centre’s move to regularise unauthorised colonies in Delhi. In 2015, when Kumar was not a part of the NDA, he had backed Kejriwal in the assembly polls. However, he returned to the NDA fold in 2017. Kumar also congratulated the Modi government for a “positive and a farmer friendly” budget.
Earlier in the day, Kumar campaigned for party candidate S C L Gupta. Gupta is contesting the elections from the Sangam Vihar constituency in south Delhi. BJP president J P Nadda and LJP leader Chirag Paswan were also present at the public meeting. PTI
