CAA a diversionary tactic of the bjp, says kejriwal
‘Act being used to draw attention away from Centre’s poor record’
NEWDELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party(bjp)-led Union government is using the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) to divert attention from its poor record in areas such as creating employment and managing the economy, Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal said on Thursday, in his first townhall meeting after filing his nomination papers from the New Delhi constituency.
AAP and the BJP are the two main contenders in the Delhi assembly elections scheduled for February 8; the second state elections to be held after the CAA was passed by Parliament (Jharkand was the first, although some constituencies had already gone to the polls by the time the act was passed).
The elections are being held against the backdrop of continuing protests against CAA, even in Delhi.
Addressing the audience in South Delhi’s Siri Fort auditorium, Kejriwal also talked about his agenda for the next five years -- reducing pollution, increasing the number of buses, cleaning the Yamuna and continuing with his government’s flagship schemes of free water, power and bus rides (the last only for women).
In response to a question on whether he has distanced himself from the Shaheen Bagh protests (the most visible anti-caa protest in Delhi, with a group of women occupying a street for 39 days and counting) Kejriwal, who hasn’t visited the site said: “My going there will not end NRC and CAA. Only the Centre only can put an end to it.” The NRC or National Register of Citi
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People have the right to protest peacefully under Article 19 of the Constitution, but inconvenience should not be caused to others. ARVIND KEJRIWAL, Delhi CM, on the Shaheen Bagh stir
zens is a process to identify noncitizens, which, several BJP leaders originally said, would be used in tandem with CAA, which fast-tracks Indian citizenship for non-muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, who have been in the country before December 31, 2014.
Commenting on the traffic jams caused by the protests as a major link road between Delhi and Noida has been shut for over a month now, the chief minister said the protest should not cause any inconvenience to people.
“People have the right to protest peacefully under Article 19 of the Constitution, but inconvenience should not be caused to others. It is not right if the protests are causing inconvenience to people,” he said.
Protesters have occupied Road 13A in Shaheen Bagh since December 15 last year.
The chief minister reiterated his demand that the Centre convene a meeting of CMS or call an all-party meeting to find a solution for unemployment, which he said was at its “historic peak”.
Responding to a question posed by author Chetan Bhagat on AAP’S national ambitions, Kejriwal said, “I am very ordinary person. People of Delhi have given me a lot of love. I am happy in Delhi. I want to work for them and not disappoint them.”
Pitching for AAP’S re-election in the polls, Kejriwal said Delhi would vote on the basis of development and the work done by the Aap-led government in the citystate in the last five years.
“In the next five years, we will open more mohalla clinics and polyclinics. We will also take our fleet of buses to 11,000 and the metro network will be expanded. The Yamuna will be cleaned and students will start getting free bus rides too,” he said.