Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Jan 10: Delhi Chief Minister Atishi on Friday took a jibe at the BJP accusing the saffron party of having staged an internal competition of who can use the abusive language against the rivals most and its candidate against her for the Kalkaji seat Ramesh Bidhuri has emerged the winner.
Ms Atishi said as a “reward” for winning the contest of abuses, the BJP has decided to make Mr Bidhuri the “Chief Minister’s Face” of the BJP in the Delhi Assembly elections.
Atishi, who became the chief minister of Delhi after Arvind Kejriwal resigned due to his incarceration last year, said this would be Mr Bidhuri’s “reward” for being the “most abusive” leader of his party. “Reliable sources have revealed that it has been decided in the CEC meeting of the ‘Gaali Galouch Party’ this morning that the most abusive leader – Ramesh Bidhuri ji – will be made the CM face. The Parliamentary Committee meeting this evening will seal this decision. Now, Delhiites have two options – on one side is the educated, hardworking leader Arvind Kejriwal, and on the other side is the abusive Ramesh Bidhuri…” she said in a post on X.
Earlier in the day, she addressed the media and attacked the saffron party for not declaring its CM candidate. “Today, the entire Delhi is asking from the ‘Gaali-Galouch’ party who is its CM face. The people of Delhi know that by voting for AAP, Arvind Kejriwal will become the CM. But they are asking who will be BJP’s CM face.”
AAP leaders, including party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, have dubbed the BJP as “Gaali Galouch” (abusive) Party due to its sustained attacks on them by the saffron party leaders, ahead of the assembly elections. Atishi is seeking re-election from the Kalkaji seat in the Delhi assembly polls and is pitted against BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri and Congress’s Alka Lamba.
The BJP MP was recently embroiled in controversy over his remarks against Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and the Delhi CM Atishi. While addressing a gathering during the campaigning, he had said “Atishi had “changed her father” as she has changed her surname from “Marlena” to “Singh.”
“This Marlena (Atishi) became Singh. She changed her name. Arvind Kejriwal swore on his children not to align with the corrupt Congress. Marlena changed her father. This reflects the character of the Aam Aadmi Party,” Bidhuri had said.
Earlier, he had courted another controversy claiming that if voted to power, the BJP would construct roads in Kalkaji “as smooth as the cheeks of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.” Bidhuri made a reference to Lalu Yadav’s remark on Hema Malini and roads in Bihar and said that the RJD could not make roads in the state “like Hema Malini’s cheeks”, but the BJP would definitely build “roads in Kalkaji like Priyanka Gandhi’s cheeks.”
“We will build all roads in Kalkaji like the cheeks of Priyanka Gandhi. Lalu had said that he would build roads in Bihar like the cheeks of Hema Malini, he had lied. He could not. But I assure you that we will make all roads in Kalkaji like the cheeks of Priyanka Gandhi,” he had said. After his remark triggered a row, he took back his words.
The AAP – BJP war continued on another front as the AAP charges against the BJP over alleged changes in the electoral rolls a month before the polls and against BJP leader Parvesh Verma have led to a fresh showdown between the two parties. The Election Commission on Thursday ordered a probe by its chief electoral officer in Delhi after a delegation led by Chief Minister Atishi filed a complaint against Mr Verma, who is contesting against Arvind Kejriwal from the New Delhi seat. Hitting back on Friday, Mr Verma said he was open to any investigation and that his only aim is to defeat Mr Kejriwal.
“The AAP did nothing in 11 years. They didn’t listen to the people’s perils. AAP did not give out jobs in the last 11 years. They are scared of losing,” he said. On AAP’s allegations of violating the Model Code, he said he had only asked the companies he knew to meet those looking for jobs in his constituency. Claiming he did not ask for votes for giving jobs, he asked, “What problem does Mr Kejriwal have if some people get jobs?”
Mr Kejriwal’s remarks that the BJP was bringing people from Bihar and UP to create “fake votes” sparked protests earlier in the day after the BJP accused him of insulting those from Purvanchal. Responding to the allegations, he said only the AAP has given a life of dignity to Purvanchali voters.
“I had gone to the Election Commission to highlight that under the garb of Rohingya and Bangladeshis, they are deleting names of Purvanchali voters. But, in turn, they are levelling baseless charges against me. If there is a party that has respected and given a life of dignity to people from Purvanchal in Delhi, it is the AAP,” Mr Kejriwal said.
Continuing his tirade against the BJP, he said the BJP has not done enough for the Purvanchalis living in Delhi. “People from Purvanchal who come here live in Kachhi Colonies. Before 2014, it was difficult to live in these colonies. There was no development. More than 90% of the people in these colonies are from Purvanchal. I want to ask the BJP, what have you done for slums in the last 10 years?” asked the former chief minister.
