New Delhi, Aug 28: The Aam Aadmi Party’s campaign in Gujarat has turned into a “mass movement” against the ruling BJP in the run-up to the assembly polls in the state, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said Sunday.
His assertion came after AAP leaders claimed on Twitter that drivers and conductors of the state-run buses were sharing a plan among themselves to persuade people to vote for the Kejriwal-led party while ferrying them back from the venue of an event in Bhuj attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Modi held a roadshow in Bhuj town of Kutch district on the second day of his visit to the state where the Assembly elections are due to be held later this year. He also addressed a rally after inaugurating and laying the foundation stone of development works in the Bhuj district.
“At the prime minister’s public meeting today in Gujarat, 2,400 government buses reached. In the drivers’ and conductors’ groups, a message is circulating that while returning, they will tell the passengers that this (BJP) government only gives speeches and Kejriwal should be given a chance,” the AAP’s former Gujarat in-charge Gulab Singh Yadav said in a tweet in Hindi.
Yadav is an MLA from Delhi’s Matilala Assembly constituency.
The AAP’s Gujarat unit president Gopal Italia also made a similar claim on the microblogging site, saying, “Gujarat is now demanding a change”.
“In Gujarat today, 2,400 buses of the GSRTC have been deployed on duty for the prime minister’s programme. A message is circulating in the group of the government (bus) conductors that while returning, they will convince the passengers that a chance should be given to the AAP,” Italia tweeted.
Replying to the post of his party’s Matiala MLA Gulab Singh Yadav on the microblogging site, Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi, “That’s why these people are so nervous. This is the reason why so many false cases are happening in Delhi.” “The upcoming elections in Gujarat have become a mass movement,” the AAP national convenor added.
During his recent visit to Gujarat, Kejriwal had promised to hike the salary of the employees of the Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) if the AAP is voted to power in the state.
“Transport employees are protesting and sad as they are paid very low salaries. Within a week of forming a government in Gujarat, we will fulfil their demand. I request them to tell every passenger to vote for a change in Gujarat,” Kejriwal had said.
The AAP is gearing to contest all seats in the upcoming Gujarat elections, projecting itself as an alternative to both the ruling BJP and the Congress, which is the main opposition party in the state.
To woo the voters in prime minister Modi’s home state, Kejriwal has made a host of pre-poll promises which includes free electricity up to 300 units per month, a job for every youth and a Rs 3,000 monthly allowance for the unemployed till they get a job and Rs 1,000 to all women above the age of 18 years.
He has also promised a “grand makeover” of the government-run schools in Gujarat as well as free and quality education to children and free healthcare services to the people of the states if voted to power. (PTI)U
