Barbs, rhetoric & promises on last day of campaigning All other parties running negative campaign: Maken
FEVER PITCH CM accuses Oppn of sabotaging power, water supply, blocking sewer lines
before the campaigning for the MCD elections came to an end on Friday, Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal accused the BJP and Congress of purposely sabotaging power and water supply, besides blocking sewer lines.
“I appeal to the BJP and Congress to spare the people of Delhi from their petty politics. Stop playing such dirty tricks with the people of Delhi. You have enmity with me; disrupt power and water supply to my residence, but spare people of Delhi,” Kejriwal said.
Addressing reporters outside his residence, he said that oil has been stolen from transformers at 70 places. “It is being done purposely. We have also received reports of valves of water pipelines being stolen. In Sangam Vihar, a complaint has been received about cement sacks being stuffed in sewer lines which led to sewage overflow. It will continue to happen till Sunday,” he added.
Kejriwal said that while people should immediately inform the authorities about such ‘disruptions’, which the government will try to rectify, they ought to be rest assured who all are behind it.
The AAP is banking on its government’s ‘achievements’ in the power and water sector to seek votes in the municipal elections, besides showcasing ‘revolutionary’ work done in education and health sectors.
The Delhi chief minister also returned to his core areas of support in the last leg of the campaign holding jansabhas in areas such as Bawana, Najafgarh and Matiala, and roadshows in unauthorised and resettlement colonies in south Delhi, including Ambedkar Nagar, Dakshinpuri, Govindpuri and Kalkaji. “We could make the announcements only for about an hour and half, but the turnout was encouraging,” a senior party leader said.
Leader of opposition in Delhi assembly, Vijender Gupta, however, said that the chief minister was already acting as defeated player and has resorted to rumour-mongering. “Since he has realised that the AAP has lost the plot, Kejriwal has started spreading rumours. He is talking about fake survey undertaken by his party indicating big win for the AAP,” he added.
the last day of campaigning for the MCD elections, Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Raj Babbar campaigned in several parts of south Delhi, while state unit chief Ajay Maken addressed several meetings and roadshows in east and west Delhi to draw support for party candidates.
Addressing a press conference at party headquarters on Friday afternoon, Maken claimed that the party will win over 200 seats in the civic body polls scheduled on Sunday. “As per an internal survey conducted with a sample size of 52,000 voters in 13,000 polling booths, Congress will win 208 wards among a total of 272 in three municipal corporations,” he said.
He also hit out at the BJP and AAP, accusing them of running a negative campaign instead of suggesting solutions to the problems faced by the people.
“The people of Delhi suffered due to 10-year misrule of the BJP in the municipal corporations, and about two years’ misrule of the AAP government in Delhi. The AAP did nothing other than indulging in corruption and making excuses for not doing any work,” he said.
The Congress leader said he hopes that the civic body elections will herald the resurgence of his party in the city. “The people now want the Congress to come back to power in the MCDs to provide efficient and corruption-free rule, as the Congress has the experience and ability to provide efficient governance,” he said.