Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Hindu
The Hindu
National
Shubhomoy Sikdar

M.P. civic polls | In a similar pitch, both Kejriwal and Owaisi accuse Congress, BJP of having a ‘secret pact’

Campaigning for their respective party candidates contesting the Madhya Pradesh civic polls on Saturday, both Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi accused the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress of having a secret pact. 

In Singrauli, Mr. Kejriwal used the term “setting” to accuse the BJP and the Congress of a symbiotic political relationship. “It’s an endless game of Congress and BJP taking turns to rule across the country. They don’t work. They indulge in setting to rule for five years alternatively but people of Delhi disrupted this setting and voted the AAP to power,” he said while addressing the public at a rally in support of his party’s mayoral candidate Rani Agrawal. 

The Delhi Chief Minister assured the gathering that if elected, AAP candidates will deliver on civic issues and cited “the fulfilled promises of free water and power” in the National Capital. 

In Khandwa, Mr. Owaisi too made a similar allegation, though he was more direct and personal in his attack. He accused former Chief Minister and State Congress president Kamal Nath of having a pact with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He further accused the two of colluding during the Lok Sabha polls.

“In the [Lok Sabha] elections, the BJP got more seats in M.P. but Mr Kamal Nath’s son won. Mr. Nath ensured that his son won at the cost of his party. Kamal Nath you made your son win and defeated the party, can Owaisi be held responsible for that. You and [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi are in cahoots,” said Mr Owaisi. 

Referring to the demolitions in the State, the AIMIM chief also accused the ruling BJP in the State of being drunk with power and said that using bulldozers against the weak was not a sign of strength but cowardice. 

Both AAP and AIMIM have fielded candidates for these polls in a State where the politics has largely been bipolar, dominated by the two parties they accuse of having an understanding.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.