AAP national convenor andDelhi CM Arvind Kejriwal at grain market in Kurukshetra Sunday. Jasbir Malhi
A HAND microphone, pen drive with pre-recorded speech of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and answers to some of the contentious questions for Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will reach most villages in Haryana from June 10 as part of the party’s ‘Haryana Jodo Campaign’, which was kick-started by the AAP national convenor here Sunday.
In the run-up to the 2019 Asssembly polls in Haryana, AAP at Kurukshetra during a day-long programme gave ‘training ‘to over 1,000 of its workers for the campaign to garner support at grassroots level in villages for the elections. The party has said it would field candidates on all 90 seats.
“AAP will fight the elections and form the government in Haryana. We have to reach each and every village of the state and make them part of the movement. Haryana has otherwise also remained the land of movements. Just like Delhi, the revolution and change will also come here,” Kejriwal told party workers, adding that a door-to-door campaign would also be started after the ‘Haryana Jodo Campaign’. The workers at the programme were given a kit containing a tutorial for the campaign, a list containing questions and their answers and also a ready-made speech to be presented by the speakers before village-level meetings under the campaign. The workers were also asked to buy hand microphones and take pen drives containing the speech of Kejriwal. They were asked to hold meetings every two days at public places in their villages.
In the pre-recorded speech, Kejriwal besides talking about the lack of development in the state is also asking people to think about the large-scale agitations in the state while blaming the political parties for causing them. “I am Haryana’s own son,” he says in the speech. The question and answer list is explanation of the party’s stand on some of the contentious issues including the SYZ canal and Kejriwal’s recent spate of seeking apology to end the defamation cases pending against him. AAP has anticipated that the party workers may face the questions during the
campaign.
AAP, in the written answers, has said it would implement the Supreme Court judgment on SYZ canal. While explaining the reasons behind Kejriwal’s recent apologies, it has said the decision was taken in public interest and the party did not want to waste time in fighting unnecessary cases. “Every political party has taken us for a ride every time. They promise many things but provide nothing. We have seen things change in Delhi despite all the difficulties Kejriwal has faced from the central government. We pray for the same change in Haryana,” said Satish Kumar, a Hisar resident and a new recruit of AAP.
The workers had come from all major districts of the Haryana. Delhi Cabinet Minister and its Haryana in-charge Gopal Rai also accompanied Kejriwal during the programme along with the party’s local face, Naveen Jaihind. Kejriwal said there was rampant corruption in Haryana and the schools and hospitals were in bad shape. “Name one department or sector where the people of Haryana are happy. What has the Haryana government done in past four years? Name one thing the government is proud of? Instead, things are worsening in Haryana,” he said.
Highlighting initiatives taken by his government in Delhi and comparing it with the state of affairs in Haryana, Kejriwal claimed that Delhi, which used to have costliest electricity in the country but today it is the cheapest in the country and available at half the price of electricity in Haryana.
“You have tried everyone in elections. You have seen Khattar and you have seen Chautala family also. Did anyone end corruption for you? You earlier would vote to change parties but now you have to vote to change the system,” he said. Commenting on the Class XII CBSE results, Kejriwal said three years back no one was ready to send their children to government schools in Delhi for education but now the situation is entirely different.
“The results declared yesterday show that Delhi’s government schools have better results than private schools. The schools have achieved 91 percent result. What’s the state of education in Haryana? Only 63 per cent of the students of government schools have passed in Haryana. These BJP, Congress and INLO won’t give you the education for your children,” he said.