BENGALURU: Sounding the poll bugle for its first foray into direct elections of Karnataka, Aam Aadmi Party national convenor and Delhi chief minister Aravind Kejriwal hit back at the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the centre and state by using the Lokayukta raids on state BJP MLA Madal Virupaksha’s home.
"Pakda gaya woh, Rs 6 cr or Rs 8 crore mila uske (BJP MLA) ke ghar se aur giraftar kiya Manish Sisodiya ko. Badi nainsaphi hain. (They seized Rs 8 crore from their own (BJP) MLA and arrested Manish Sisodiya in Delhi. Is this not injustice?)", said a sarcastic Kejriwal.
The Delhi CM said that the raids on Sisodiya yielded just Rs 10,000 but the allegations against him were of scamming Rs 100 or Rs 1,000 crore.
"Now, if Sisodiya had scammed Rs 100 or Rs 1,000 crore then they should have atleast recovered Rs 1 or Rs 2 crore from his house. Instead they recovered Rs 10,000 from his house and nothing from his bank locker," he said.
Kejriwal, who announced a slew of freebies for Karnataka if it elected the AAP government to power, said that it was quite amusing that Union minister Amit Shah announced that BJP will end corruption in the state if it came back to power.
"Now, has anyone reminded him that for the last four years, it has been the BJP’s own government which was in power. What were they doing for these last four years then?", questioned Kejriwal.
He said that within 12 hours of Union minister Amit Shah returning to Delhi, after announcing that if Karnataka votes for BJP it will end corruption, Lokayukta raids conducted on a BJP MLA home saw seizure of Rs 8 crore.
"Till now, this MLA has not been arrested. For all you know these people will be given the Padma Bhushan soon. Any thief, corrupt or rapist in the country are being inducted into their party," alleged Kejriwal.
Recalling the contractors association D Kempanna allegations and contractor Santosh K Patil’s death by suicide, the Delhi CM said that an 82-year-old man, who wrote to PM Modi saying that the government was asking for 40 per cent commission, was sent to jail. "While BJP workers who wrote to top BJP leaders raising his voice against corruption had to commit suicide. What kind of a government is this?", questioned Kejriwal.
Earlier, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann spoke of the AAP's success in Punjab and urged the people to emulate the success in Karnataka which will ensure better governance and zero tolerance to corruption.
Mann went on to state that the old pension scheme (OPS) would earlier give back the money which was deducted from the government employees salaries after they retired for a fruitful living for the rest of his days.
"Now, orders from Delhi have ensured that under the new pension scheme (NPS) the same government employees' money will be invested in the share market where people like Nirab Modi, Mallya and others would siphon off with it," he alleged.
The AAP projected the Delhi and Punjab models of free power, education and zero tolerance towards corruption and made a poll promise of emulating the same in Karnataka, if voted to power.
In addition, the AAP also announced a Rs 3,000 grant per unemployed youth in Karnataka, till he gets employment, a one time farm loan waiver and guaranteed minimum support price for crops.
