AAP’s win in Doda marks beginning of new politics in J&K, says Kejriwal

Former Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday thanked the people of Doda for giving a chance to AAP and electing the party’s first legislator in Jammu and Kashmir.

The party today held a rally in Doda, where the party’s only MLA, Mehraj Malik, won the recent Assembly poll. Kejriwal was accompanied by Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann and senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh.

Although the party has only one MLA in the UT, it has extended support to the National Conference-Congress alliance. Congratulating Omar Abdullah, the former Delhi CM said Omar should consult him for learning the way to function in a ‘half-state’ if he faces any problem.

“Delhi is called a half-state because the CM has limited powers, while the L-G enjoys much more powers. Now, they (BJP) have also turned J&K into a half state. I want to tell Omar that if he faces any hardship in his work, he can consult me because I have run the government in Delhi for 10 years,” he said.

Kejriwal expressed hope that Omar’s government would give some responsibility to Mehraj so that he could work for the entire Jammu and Kashmir. “Mehraj is a social activist and his experience should come to the use of entire J&K,” he said.

“This is historic that an AAP MLA has won from Doda. You will come to know in coming 10 years that you have brought a change in J&K. I have come here to thank you for trusting AAP and giving the mandate to Mehraj. You have sown the seed of AAP in Doda. This is the start of a new politics in J&K,” Kejriwal said.

Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kejriwal said people of the country had given a clear message to Modi in the Lok Sabha elections that they do not like his style of working. “Every election is a verdict of the people and during the Lok Sabha poll this year, a clear message was given to Modiji that people do not like the way he is running the country. The BJP was claiming that it will get at least 400 seats, but won only 240. If they do not change their working style the party will come down to 140 seats in the next elections,” Kejriwal said.

The Delhi CM claimed that PM Modi was agitated with him as he had given a facelift to government schools and hospitals across Delhi, while the BJP governments have not been able to do this in years in other states.

“The Prime Minister is agitated with me as I have provided free power, good infrastructure, free bus travel to women and even free water supply. He (Modi) says that I am distributing freebies, which is true as I am doing it for the people from their own money, something the BJP government has failed to do,” Kejriwal said.

“They arrested me and other leaders of AAP so that we could not work for people. But it was the blessings of God that I came out of jail,” he said.

Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said that his government in Punjab had removed 16 toll plazas since it came to power. “In J&K, I have been informed that there is a loot in the name of toll plazas. Electricity mafia has been created here to loot the hard-earned money of the locals,” Mann said.