News Brief
Kuldeep Negi
May 13, 2024, 11:09 AM | Updated 11:09 AM IST
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Union Home Minister Amit Shah has criticised the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) 10 electoral guarantees announced by Arvind Kejriwal as unrealistic.
Shah questioned the feasibility of these guarantees given AAP’s limited participation in the upcoming elections, saying that a party that is contesting 22 seats has promised to waive power bills across the country.
"How many seats is AAP contesting? 22. You need over 270 to form the government. What guarantees are you giving? You are contesting 22 seats and you are saying you will waive power bills across the country," Shah pointed out, NDTV reported.
Shah's statement came after the AAP leader announced 10 'Kejriwal ki guarantees' at a press conference.
Kejriwal’s announcement included 10 commitments, dubbed 'Kejriwal ki guarantees', promising round-the-clock electricity, enhanced education and health facilities, the creation of two crore jobs each year, the termination of the Agniveer scheme, and ensuring that farmers receive a minimum support price for crops in alignment with the Swaminathan Commission's recommendations.
His list also emphasised reclaiming territory occupied by China and achieving full statehood for Delhi.
Shah dismissed these promises by Kejriwal, recalling AAP’s performance in the last election where it "tried these stunts", but won just one seat.
He also addressed opposition allegations of the BJP misusing central agencies, pointing to Kejriwal’s past responses to legal summonses.
“If Kejriwal is making such allegations, he defied summonses nine times. He kept dragging this and then started crying that he has been arrested during polls," Shah said.
Shah also said Kejriwal has not been granted bail, but just an interim relief.
"His plea was that his arrest was wrong. The Supreme Court did not accept that. Then he sought bail. The court did not accept that either. Then he asked for permission to campaign. The Supreme Court set some conditions and granted him leave till 1 June. He has to return to Tihar (jail) on 2 June. How is this a ruling in his favour?" Shah asked.
On the subject of the AAP-Congress alliance in Delhi, Shah was dismissive about its potential impact on the BJP, citing the party’s dominant performance in past elections.
"The BJP got more than 50 per cent votes in every seat last time. So it does not matter how many people are coming together on the opposite side," he said.
He also downplayed Kejriwal’s personal attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, including claims that Modi would soon retire from politics.
"Don't take him so seriously. He does not want Modiji to stay in politics. But I want to tell you. Modiji will be PM till 2029 and even after that he will lead BJP's poll campaigns," Shah said.
Kuldeep is Senior Editor (Newsroom) at Swarajya. He tweets at @kaydnegi.