‘Abki baar 3 paar’ will be BJP’S slogan for Delhi polls: Kejriwal

IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS, TWO THINGS HAVE HAPPENED — TRAFFIC AND INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITIES HAVE INCREASED. BUT IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS, POLLUTION IN DELHI HAS GONE DOWN. THERE CAN BE A DEBATE ON HOW MUCH, BUT IT HAS GONE DOWN”

“Abki baar 3 paar ” will be the slogan of the BJP f or t he upcoming Delhi Assembly elections, Chief Minister Ar vind Kejriwal s aid on Saturday, taking a dig at the party which had won just three seats in the 2015 Assembly elections.

Speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit here, Kejriwal said the Aam Aadmi Party's slogan will be "abki baar 67 paar" (this time we will cross 67 seats) in the Assembly polls due early next year.

When asked whether he considers Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari a competitor in the elections, the chief minister praised him for his singing.

“Have you heard him singing Rinkiya ke papa,” Kejriwal quipped.

He said Delhiites talk so much about the work done by the AAP government that party leaders do not even have to give speeches in elections.

The chief minister added that the political discourse has changed in the national capital.

"After five years of being in power, our critics have started loving us. We will win more hearts in the next two months (till elections)," he said.

Assembly elections are due early next year and the new government in Delhi will have to take charge by February 22, 2020.

Kejriwal said his next target would be to clean the Yamuna, improve transport infrastructure, provide clean water in every household round-the - clock and maintain city's roads as per European standards.

He said people in Delhi have been getting 24-hour electricity supply, leading to reduction in pollution levels in the city as use of generators has gone down significantly.

Talking about air pollution at the summit, Kejriwal said, "In the last five years, two things have happened — traffic and i ndustrial activities have increased. But in the last five years, pollution in Delhi has gone down. There can be a debate on how much, but it has gone down."

According to the chief minister, the air quality in the national capital plummeted after farmers started burning more stubble in neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana.

"We are helpless in front of this," Kejriwal said.

He said according to a recent CAG report tabled in the assembly, the Delhi government had maintained a revenue surplus over the last five years and asserted that it was because of an "honest government" in the city.