My votebank not based on religion or caste: Kejriwal
■ BJP has forgotten issue of unauthorised colonies before polls, says CM
New Delhi, Feb. 6: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said his votebank is not based on religion or caste, but are all those people who want good education, medical treatment, modern roads and 24-hour electricity.
In an interview to PTI, Mr Kejriwal said the Delhi Assembly election will establish a new kind of politics in the country which is the politics based on work. “Earlier, it was said that votes are not cast based on work done by the government. If you want to get votes you need to establish your votebank based on caste and religion,” he said.
“My votebank are all those people who want to give good education to their children, who want good medical treatment, who want roads to be constructed in front of their houses, those who want 24-hour electricity,” he said.
Accusing the BJP of “forgetting” unauthorised colonies, Mr Kejriwal said the saffron party is “fooling” people as the Congress did when it was in power. BJP leaders these days are talking about Shaheen Bagh where an anti-CAA protest is going on for over a month, but not about Delhi’s unauthorised colonies.
Mr Kejriwal alleged that Union home minister Amit Shah in his political rallies had not mentioned
◗ Accusing the BJP of ‘forgetting’ unauthorised colonies, Mr Kejriwal said the saffron party is ‘fooling’ people as the Congress did when it was in power
the issue of unauthorised colonies. “They have forgotten the issue of unauthorised colonies just before the Assembly elections. After January 15, Mr Shah has not even mentioned the issue of unauthorised colonies. In the last four months, they just gave registry to 20 people...You can imagine how much time they will take to give registry to the 40 lakh residents of the unauthorised colonies,” he said.
In November last year, Kejriwal had asserted that he would not rest till
the registration of houses in the unauthorised colonies is completed. When the Congress was in power in the national capital, the provisional certificates were given to some residents of these colonies.
Mr Kejriwal said he does not mock Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari for his songs and himself watches the Bhojpuri actor-turned-politician’s videos in which he “dances well”. Mr Kejriwal said wherever he goes, he asks people to listen to Mr Tiwari’s songs and watch the videos of his songs and dance.
He was responding to the Delhi BJP’s allegation that he had insulted “purvanchalis” and their culture by mocking Mr Tiwari’s songs.
“I have not mocked Tiwari for his song
‘Rinkiya ke Papa’ and instead, I have praised him for singing good songs. I do not understand where is insulting and mocking in it. I listen to Tiwari’s songs. I like his videos. He dances well,” Mr Kejriwal said.
Last month, Mr Tiwari had said that Mr Kejriwal mocking ‘Rinkiya ke Papa’
was “insulting” Purvanchalis and their culture.
Purvanchalis are not going to be swayed by the Kejriwal government’s water and power freebies and 98 per cent of them are supporting the BJP, he had claimed. “Purvanchalis will support the BJP in the Delhi elections because Kejriwal and his party have been ‘humiliating’ them and their culture,” Tiwari had told PTI in an interview.