Union Minister hits out at party for ‘failing’ to fulfil its poll promises, including passage of Lokpal Bill

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday hit out at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government for “failing” to fulfil its pre-poll promises, including the passage of the Jan Lokpal Bill. He also asserted that the AAP cannot form the government every time by “fooling the people”.

While Mr. Singh addressed the party’s ‘Vijay Sankalp Sabha’ at Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari’s home turf of the North-East Delhi parliamentary constituency, other party bigwigs, including Harsh Vardhan and Meenakshi Lekhi addressed similar meetings across the Capital.

“Hamari kathni aur karni mein antar nahi hota hai [There is no difference between what we say and what we do] but four-and-a-half years ago, AAP leaders had made big promises such as making Delhi the most beautiful city in five years,” Mr. Singh said.

“They had promised to give Delhiites facilities which they had been deprived of and had even promised a government that would be impeccable and corruption-free. But everybody knows the truth of the Aam Aadmi Party...even their Jan Lokpal Bill which they tried to get passed from the Vidhan Sabha was a watered-down version of what they had promised,” Mr. Singh said further.

CCTV cameras

The Union Minister then took a jibe at the AAP for failing to appoint an internal ombudsman and also questioned the party’s promise of providing 20,000 litres of free water.

“You [AAP] had also made an internal Lokpal for the party for your leaders but that internal Lokpal Admiral L. Ramdas was insulted and ousted from the party. They [AAP] claim to do clean politics. They can form a government by fooling the public once, but not every time,” he alleged.

“You had promised that if you were elected you would install CCTVs in the city for women’s safety. But had Manoj Tiwari not tried, there would have been no CCTVs here. I want to question how many CCTVs has the AAP installed,” Mr. Singh asked.

AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal later responded to Mr. Singh with a suggestion to “not lie like his boss” Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Modi ji stalled the installation of CCTv cameras in Delhi for three years...The Modi government is sitting on the Lokpal Bill for Delhi for four years. Delhi is getting free water. Please do not tell white lies like your boss,” Mr. Kejriwal tweeted.

Meanwhile, addressing a similar programme in the East Delhi constituency, Union Minister Harsh Vardhan said, “...The speciality of the Narendra Modi government is that he has not just framed the schemes but also implemented them resulting in the benefit of the poor and the backward people.”

At the New Delhi constituency, Ms. Lekhi termed the upcoming polls a “fight between good and evil forces” which had, on the one side, “the corrupt and dishonest” and on the other “the Prime Minister and chowkidar of the country.”