NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal has rejected PM Narendra Modi’s ambitious proposal of One Nation, One Election, arguing that frequent elections give leveraging powers to common citizens.
“I would say we should have an election every three months,” the Delhi chief minister told a poll rally in Jaipur, Rajasthan on Monday. The state, currently governed by INDIA ally Congress, goes to elections later this year.
He said that the simultaneous conduct of elections won’t help common people “in any way”. “You tell me – when do politicians listen to you? It is during elections. And if elections are held at a gap of 5 years, the LPG cylinder which is selling at ₹1000 will be sold at ₹5000 while tomatoes which sells at ₹250/kg will jump to ₹1500/kg,” he quipped.
Instead, he said, the emphasis should be on implementing ‘One Nation, One Education’ and ‘One Nation, One Healthcare’. “Where both rich and poor receive equal education and healthcare services,” he elaborated.
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Children of billionaires, farmers, workers and local vendors should receive an egalitarian form of education, he argued.
Kejriwal, who is known for doling out freebies to people, attributed BJP’s eagerness for ONOE to BJP leaders’ fear of elections “because they have to engage with the public during the elections”.
“It pains me to see that after being in power for 9 years the PM is seeking votes in the name of ONOE. If the PM had done any significant development then he would have sought votes on that. But even after being the PM for 9 years, if someone seeks votes in the name of One Nation One Election, this implies this individual has not done anything.”
Listing out ‘Kejriwal ki Guarantee’, he said that if AAP is voted to power, it would provide 24-hour free electricity upto 300 units per month, waiver of outstanding electricity bills, free education and healthcare, ₹1,000 to women above 18, and permanent employment to contractual employees.
“Kejriwal might get into trouble because of these guarantees but he will fulfill all of them at any cost,” said the Delhi CM.
He has made similar promises in poll-bound Chhattisgarh, another state where Congress is ruling. His promises of free electricity and healthcare, on the line of his much-publicised “Delhi Model”, is credited for the party’s landslide victory in Punjab.