“Muskuraiye AAP Delhi me hai.” <shudders>
And Kejriwal is readying himself with a smile, which invokes many emotions especially rage, to campaign for your votes in other states as well. Be it Gujarat, Punjab or Uttar Pradesh the Aam Aadmi Party has adopted a unique political campaign, different from the rest to nudge you to cast your vote for them. Here are some of the tricks deployed by the circus that AAP is to stay constantly in the news cycle (other than paid advertisements in national dailies, of course).
I Promise….
Just like how a lover makes endless promises to provide a better and comfortable life, AAP to promises to provide “Free bijli, free pani (free electricity, free water)” to voters in every state they set their foot in. After promising and somewhat fulfilling their word in Delhi (well almost) Arvind Kejriwal has promised the people of Gujarat and Punjab to dispense ‘free bijli pani’ (well almost).
But with the ‘well almost’ level of fulfilling ‘a’ promise and faltering on the others, will the voters overlook the utter failure of the AAP government in Delhi for freebies? What failures you ask? Let’s have a look.
Tareekh pe Tareekh
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in 2015 had promised to clean the Yamuna river within 5 years. And this was the promise made on the banks of the river when Kejriwal, along with his cabinet colleagues and senior Delhi government officials, had taken part in the first ‘Yamuna Aarti’ held at the Kudesia Ghat.
As per the 2015 Mint article, Kejriwal boasted, “We will revive Yamuna within five years,” adding that the government has a plan to stop the flow of drains in the Yamuna in the next 1-2 years. The aarti was conducted in a very Dharmic style with priests from Varanasi who were specially invited for the program chanting Vedic hymns.
Seven years later, this is the condition of Yamuna river in Delhi with Kejriwal once again promising that the Yamuna will be ‘nirmal’ again in the next five years.
#WATCH | Thick layer of toxic foam floats on the surface of river Yamuna
— ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2021
Visuals from Delhi’s Kalindi Kunj area pic.twitter.com/W8HSGrLumw
Kejriwal’s next promise of ‘free pani’ too turned out to be costly for the citizens of Delhi. Black water to no water. One does not know when he will run after a water tanker to get a bucket of water in the scorching heat and amidst the pandemic.
#WATCH | Residents of Vivekanand Camp in Chanakyapuri area of Delhi climb atop a water tanker while others mill around as they wait for their turn to get water. pic.twitter.com/ccRLNMcZkZ
— ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2021
Seems like the AAP leader has made ‘offering freebies’ his life mission for every state they venture in. But as wise people said, there is no such thing as free lunch.
So, with toxic foam making the Yamuna look more like a piece of the sky than a river, videos of polluted water, sorry condition of the redundant Mohalla Clinic, a voter has much to deliberate on to cast its vote for the AAP.
Delhi choking
Other than toxic Yamuna water and subpar drinking water and the lack of it, another problem that plagues Delhi is pollution. Once again, the AAP government has assured to free the national capital from pollution in the next few years and all it does is implement ‘odd-even’ rule every time the stubble is burnt by farmers in neighbouring state, especially Punjab.
And if that was not enough, the Kejriwal government has allowed ‘farmer’ protestors to choke Delhi again from all borders, disrupting livelihoods and lives of people who regularly commute on those roads. In 2019-2020 too he let the anti-CAA protestors sit in middle of the road holding up traffic movement for months on end.
And then the oxygen crisis during the second wave of COVID pandemic. Let us never forget the Delhi state government sat tightly without even making an effort to arrange transport chain of oxygen being arranged by Centre. Interim report of audit committee states that the state government may have exaggerated oxygen demand. This may have triggered chaos amid the crisis. Perhaps lives could have been saved had Kejriwal government not sat pretty in their offices and did something.
The blame game
Aam Aadmi Party leaders live in a world where they think that the entire world is conspiring against them. Like the damsel in distress in a Bollywood movie, AAP is fighting with the ‘evil BJP’.
Promises not fulfilled? Blame BJP. Agencies scrutinising your financial records to check for evasion, fraud? Blame BJP. Their corporator gets accused of murdering a cop? Blame BJP. Their MLA endorses violence and beheading of someone in name of religion? Blame BJP.
Take a look.
And latest:
Two days ago, Income tax department had sent me a notice related to my fixed deposit. They don't have time to go after Vijay Mallya, Mehul Choksi. This money was saved before AAP was formed. Are BJP leaders ready to declare all their assets transparently?: AAP MLA Atishi pic.twitter.com/dGTJ4j2dXV
— ANI (@ANI) June 30, 2021
AAP has not hesitated for blaming the opposition parties for their failure to conduct rallies, conferences. The latest example being Punjab.
However, this is a permanent trick up Kejriwal’s sleeves- ready to be used whenever convenient.
How could AAP not blame the neighboring states for the pollution and water crisis? Deflecting the blame once again, an AAP MLA passed the buck to Haryana for the water shortage in Delhi.
Dusting responsibility off one’s shoulder, Kejriwal has consistently blamed Punjab and Haryana for the rise in pollution in the national capital.
Any indefensible attack on AAP leaders, and the party is ready with a new headline to blame the BJP for it. Fascinating, when a party leader blamed the Bhartiya Janta Party for her divorce even.
This is not it, Delhi CM Kejriwal once even blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for traffic jam, thereby, attracting trolls for his hysterical attack.
That is not all. AAP leaders are regularly subjected to dubious ‘attacks’ where someone usually throws ink on them or just slaps them. The motley of ‘activists’ and ‘journalists’ who refuse to accept testimonies of rape victims in Bengal just because they supported the BJP will lap up the ‘ink attacks’ on AAP leaders. These ‘ink attacks’ on AAP leaders in BJP ruled states is the ‘proof of fascism’ under Narendra Modi.
This is how it is. The drama that surrounds Aam Aadmi Party.
No wonder they say you elect a joker, you get a circus.
