Divine forces coming together, says Kejriwal ahead of Goa elections
PANAJI: All divine forces are coming together and something good is going to happen this time, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal said on Saturday, in a cryptic remark made months ahead of the Assembly polls in Goa.
The Delhi chief minister also said his party represents “honest politics” and that it would take a decision on announcing its chief ministerial face for Goa at an “appropriate time”.
Kejriwal on Saturday arrived in Goa, where he met his party’s local leader Amit Palekar, who was on an indefinite fast against an underconstruction bungalow being built in an “unauthorised” manner at Old Goa heritage precinct. The fast ended on Friday after the state government announced action against the controversial structure. “This is a victory of the people of Goa. This time, all the divine forces are coming together and something good is going to happen,” Kejriwal said while talking to reporters in the presence of Palekar at his residence on the outskirt of Panaji. He added that the party was really proud of Palekar. “AAP represents honest politics. It represents struggle of the people and raises issues of the public,” he said. Despite the doctors advising Palekar to stop his fast on the third day due to his deteriorating health condition, he continued with it for the sake of saving the heritage of the state.
”Fasting is a spiritual experience. I have also done fasting,” said Kejriwal, who had taken part in Anna Hazare-led anticorruption movement in 2011. “Whoever says that Palekar was fasting to gain political mileage should also join in such long fasts which purify the soul,” he said. When asked whether Palekar would be announced AAP’s chief ministerial face in Goa, Kejriwal said that the decision on the CM candidate would be taken at the right time.
He dismissed the charge that Palekar undertook the fast to project himself as the party’s CM face. “No one fasts for five days to become a chief minister. We have seen how someone with Rs 100 crore buys MLAs to become a chief minister,” he said.
AAP has announced to contest all 40 seats in BJP-ruled Goa, where elections are due in February. Apart from the ruling BJP and opposition Congress, Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC), the Shiv Sena and other parties will also be in the fray