‘Abusive’ Modi failed to talk development: AAP

Kejriwal said that the two projects inaugurated by Modi on the day were joint ventures between the central and the state governments

Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) national convener and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal hit back at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “aapdakal” jab at the Delhi government and said the central government had failed in fulfilling its promises to the people of Delhi made before the 2020 elections.

AAP leaders Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and others speak after the PM’s address earlier on Sunday. (Vipin Kumar/HT Photo)

Speaking at 4pm at the party headquarters, hours after the Prime Minister’s rally in the Capital, Kejriwal accused Modi of devoting the majority of his speech to “hurl abuses” at the AAP.

“Next time, he should answer the people of Delhi on unfulfilled promises made by him in the run-up to 2020 elections, including a repeal of sections 81 and 33 of the Delhi Land Reform Act, granting land ownership rights, implementing the long-pending Delhi Land Pooling Policy and notifying Delhi Master Plan 2021,” he said, referencing Delhi a “half-state” and that “BJP must answer why it has failed to deliver” on its works.

He said that the two projects inaugurated by Modi on the day were joint ventures between the central and the state governments, adding that “inaugurations are a reply to those who say AAP only engages in fights.”

The BJP hit back at Kejriwal, alleging it was the BJP at the Centre that undertook development works for Delhi and Kejriwal only “deceived” the public.

BJP Delhi chief Virendra Sachdeva said: “I have said this before and I repeat it again— if Arvind Kejriwal believes he has worked on development projects, then let’s have a public debate. He should also present his side. After completing numerous development projects, just two days ago, the Modi government at the Centre approved new development projects for Delhi worth over ₹16,700 crore.”

“The Kejriwal government in Delhi has deceived the people of Delhi. Whether it is hospital construction, rebuilding old schools, expanding public transportation services, road maintenance, ration distribution, or even electricity and water bills – by levying surcharges, they have resorted to exploitation and betrayed the public,” Sachdeva added.

Kejriwal said, “Prime Minister spoke for 38 minutes, of which he spent about 29 minutes abusing the people of Delhi and the elected government of Delhi. People expect that the Prime Minister will provide a vision for the country, a vision for Delhi, or announce some major initiatives. I don’t want to delve into those abuses. I want to request the Prime Minister and remind him of his previous manifesto promises. The promises he made in 2020 are still awaited by my brothers from Delhi’s rural areas.”

The AAP chief said that the Prime Minister, before the 2020 elections, promised to repeal sections 81 and 33 of the Delhi Land Reform Act. “This can only be done by the central government. Delhi assembly had passed a resolution and sent it to the central government years ago—not once, but twice...There are countless cases under these sections. Small farmers in Delhi’s rural areas are entangled in these cases and are exhausted by frequent court visits. All these cases should be withdrawn, and sections 81 and 33 should be repealed,” he said.

Section 81 prohibits the use of private agricultural land for purposes other than agriculture or horticulture in rural areas and Section 33 limits restrictions on transfer of land.

Kejriwal said ownership rights were not granted to people of rural Delhi under the 20-point programme and farmers whose lands were acquired are legally entitled to alternative plots, but the DDA has not provided any alternative in the last 50 years or kept its promise to expand lal dora. “In 2020, the Prime Minister made all these promises. This is documented in their manifesto,” he said.

Kejriwal said that Delhi’s 2041 Master Plan is still awaiting notification, thereby completely stalling Delhi’s development and that the land pooling policy notified in 2018 is yet to be implemented.

Kejriwal said that Delhi is a half-state. “Half is governed by us, and the other half by them. All these responsibilities were theirs. Why didn’t they fulfil them? Had they done so—repealed Sections 81 and 33, granted ownership rights—the entire rural population of Delhi would have voted for them. Today, all people in rural Delhi are ready to take revenge on the BJP,” he said.

On the PM’s remark that the AAP government failed on roads, sewer and civic services, Kejriwal said, “We will clean all the sewers. We’ve cleaned many sewers. Over the past 75 years, they and their secret ally have created havoc in Delhi. We are fixing everything. In the last 10 years, we’ve brought it under control to a significant extent, and we will continue to improve in the future.”