Yashwant, Shatrughan at AAP Noida rally
NOIDA: In a rally greeted by thundershowers on Saturday evening in Noida, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Shatrughan Sinha and former BJP leader Yashwant Sinha shared stage with Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) stalwarts and came out in support of Delhi government and its policies.
The rally, which comes in the backdrop of both the AAP and the BJP gearing up for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, also saw Delhi chief minister asking Yashwant Sinha to contest the polls from Uttar Pradesh.
“If supporting the truth is rebellious, then I am a rebel. My party is not the only one doing good work. We should appreciate the good work, such as mohalla clinics and government school reforms, introduced by AAP in Delhi. My party promised ‘good days’ (acche din), but failed on delivering it,” Shatrughan Sinha, who has been openly critical of his party in the past also, said addressing a crowd of 3,000 AAP supporters.
Later, AAP president and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal asked former BJP leader Yashwant Sinha to contest elections from Uttar Pradesh, to which Sinha replied with a smile.
Addressing the rally, Yashwant Sinha raised questions on the Union government’s economic policies, including demonetisation, GST and Rafale fighter jet deal. “Some leaders think that they control the country’s people and media. Such ego cannot be accepted from a person holding the country’s highest political position.,” Yashwant Sinha said.
Saturday’s rally was organised to mark the end of AAP leader Sanjay Singh and his team’s 250 kilometre padyatra that started from Saharanpur and culminated in Noida.
Kejriwal, in his turn, alleged that the BJP has been siphoning money. He also alleged that the Union government has not allowed the Delhi government to start any new Mohalla clinics in the past three years.
“We have already started 190 mohalla clinics and are going to make 1,000 more. We have also reduced electricity rates, which are now the lowest in the country,” Kejriwal said.
Reacting to the allegations, Rajesh Bhatia, general secretary, Delhi BJP, said Kejriwal had already lost ground and was now seeking support of those leaders who did not have any political base. “Kejriwal believes in politics of defection. He and his party has lost ground and credibility. Those who are standing with Kejriwal should know that the BJP is a ideology. Whoever leaves it can never flourish,” Bhatia said.