Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, May 12: The Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, out on bail at the behest of the Supreme Court, on Sunday announced 10 guarantees to the voters in the country on behalf of the INDIA bloc if the opposition alliance come to power at the centre.
Mr Kejriwal’s assurances encompass a broad spectrum of public welfare initiatives, including pledges for free electricity for poor and round-the-clock power supply for all and improved healthcare besides better educational facilities and better deals for farmers.
In contrast, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi also gave five guarantees but only to the people of West Bengal. Addressing a poll rally in Barrackpur, Mr Modi accused the Trinamool Congress government in the State of turning Hindus into “second-class citizens” and said, “I want to give five guarantees to the people of Bengal: Nobody can give reservations based on religion. Reservations for SC, ST, and OBC will not be touched. Nobody can stop you from celebrating Ram Navami. The judgement of the Supreme Court on Ram Mandir will not be quashed. Nobody can stop the implementation of CAA,” Mr Modi said
With polling yet to take place in 18 of the 22 Lok Sabha constituencies that the AAP is contesting — four in Delhi, 13 in Punjab, and one in Haryana — the Delhi CM pitted his vows to the people of India, called “Kejriwal ki guarantee”, against the Prime Minister’s “Modi ki guarantee.” “BJP has always failed on its promises; my guarantees have proven track record,” Mr Kejriwal said. “People have to take a call whether to go for ‘Kejriwal ki Guarantee’ or ‘Modi Guarantee.”
Replicating Delhi’s model of uninterrupted power supply nationwide, Mr Kejriwal particularly targeted the economically weaker sections of the society promising them free electricity up to 200 units. “We have the capacity to produce 3 lakh megawatts of power. The peak demand in summers is 2 lakh MW. We have the capacity to produce more power as compared to the demand. But there are still power cuts. Why? Because the management is poor. We fixed it in Delhi and Punjab, and we can do it in the country because we have the experience,” Kejriwal said and added, “We will provide up to 200 units of free electricity to all the poor. It will cost ₹ 1.25 lakh crore, we can arrange it.”
Second on Mr Kejriwal’s poll guarantees list was revamping education in government schools. The Delhi Chief Minister claimed that ₹ 5 lakh crore would be required to remedy that and that state governments and the Centre should pay ₹ 2.5 lakh crore each to make up for the total cost.
“Today, the condition of schools is very poor. Over 18 crore children study in 10 lakh schools across the country and they have no future. In Delhi and Punjab, we have shown that we can do it and we will do it across the country,” the AAP chief said. “This will cost the government Rs 5 lakh crore, half of which will be spent by the Centre and half by the states. To keep up the standards, every year, it will cost the Centre Rs 50,000 crore. This is not a lot of money keeping in mind that all children will have access to good education.”
Mr Kejriwal also promised changes in the healthcare system so as to ensure access to every section of the society. “If the people of my country are healthy, it will take the country forward. Mohalla clinics will be started in villages and in every corner of the country. The district hospitals will be turned into multi-speciality ones. And most importantly, treatment here would be free for everyone.”
The AAP chief further said: “There will also be no insurance schemes. This is a big scam. We will create health infrastructure in all parts of the country, the expenditure for which would be Rs 5 lakh crore — half borne by the Centre and half by the states.
Other guarantees on the list, according to Mr Kejriwal, are “freeing” Indian land from Chinese control, shutting down the Agniveer scheme, providing farmers Minimum Support Price (MSP) for their produces as per the Swaminathan Commission report and a full statehood to Delhi.
“Our fourth guarantee is ‘Nation first’. China has occupied our land but our central govt is denying it…There is a lot of strength in our army. All the land of the country which has been occupied by China will be freed. For this, efforts will be made at the diplomatic level on one side and the Army will be given complete freedom to take whatever steps it wants to take regarding this. A scheme like Agniveer is harmful for the army and the youth are also troubled by it. The Agniveer scheme will be withdrawn,” Mr Kejriwal said.
Lashing out at the Centre over the status of unemployment in the country, Kejriwal presented a detailed plan. “Within one year, arrangements will be made to give 2 crore jobs. This will be productive and effective employment,” the AAP chief said.
Taking a dig at the BJP on fighting against corruption, Mr Kejriwal said, “The system where honest people are being sent to jail and the corrupt are being protected will end. It is the biggest reason behind the country’s corruption.” The “BJP’s washing machine will be dismantled. Like we had attacked corruption at both the lower and higher levels in Delhi and Punjab, we will replicate it across the country.”
The Delhi Chief Minister, as his last poll guarantee, promised to simplify the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. “GST will be taken out of the ambit of PMLA and simplified. If someone wants to do business in the legal way, they should be able to do it without problems. Our target is to leave China behind, which is far ahead in terms manufacturing and trade. If traders can’t do business easily and openly, it is a big impediment in the country’s progress.”
“Data shows that over the past 8-10 years, 12 lakh high net worth individuals have shut businesses here and left the country because the government has harassed them,” Mr Kejriwal claimed.
