Key contenders in Delhi polls are AAP, BJP: Sanjay Singh

By Nivedita Singh

New Delhi, Sep 6 (IANS) Ahead of the Delhi Assembly polls, Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh said the party is confident of returning to power in the state as the Congress is "nowhere in the race while there is a serious infighting for the chief ministerial candidate in the BJP".

Speaking to IANS, Sanjay Singh said the main contenders in the polls will be AAP and the BJP. "Congress is not even in the race. Do you see it anywhere?"

"There is no alternative to the work done by the AAP government in five years. People are happy with the Kejriwal government," the Rajya Sabha MP told IANS.

"People are speaking about and praising the work done by the Kejriwal government. The AAP government has done so much for the people in all the sectors -- health, education, electricity or water. We even made public bus travel free for women and soon Delhi Metro ride will also be made free. BJP leaders are not able to counter us. They (BJP) don't have a similar track record in the other states," he added.

Accusing the BJP leaders of confusing the people, he said, "In the race to take credit, BJP leaders are constantly working against the people of Delhi. They are unable to highlight any fault in the work done by the Delhi government since 2015, so they are issuing baseless statements on the policies introduced by Kejriwal."

Earlier also the AAP leader had said that there is infighting among BJP's Delhi state unit president Manoj Tiwari, BJP MLA and leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta and Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Goel for the Chief Minister candidate, and that they are sacrificing public interest in their desperation to become the Chief Minister.

"They make different statements and are rushing to take credit. Ever since Kejriwal has spoken about giving ownership rights to the people living in the unauthorised colonies of Delhi, the BJP leaders are vying to take credit for it," Sanjay Singh said.

He also said the Tiwari, Goel and Gupta are against "the pro-people policy of AAP".

"They are against the good work being done by the AAP. They are clearly against the policy of free electricity to the people and waiver of water bills. I have been asking them about their stand on free electricity and water bill waiver. If they are not against these decisions, why don't they accept that they are happy that people are getting free electricity and their due water bills are being waived? Goel also did not answer letter I wrote to him and even did not meet us when we went his home," Singh added.

On August 30, Singh wrote to Goel asking him three questions; "Does BJP support free electricity of up to 200 units for people of Delhi? Does BJP support waiver of dues in water bills for people of Delhi; and who is BJP's CM candidate?"

Last month, Kejriwal announced a one-time waiver of water arrears. Under the scheme, consumers will get a waiver of between 25 per cent to 100 per cent on the principal bill amount, while the late payment surcharge is 100 per cent waived for all domestic customers. Kejriwal also said that the electricity will be free of cost for those consuming between 0 to 200 units.

Singh said since the announcements were made, the BJP leaders have been demanding that the government should return the bill amount of those who have already made the payment.

"They should first do in BJP-ruled states whatever they are demanding from us," he said.

The Aam Aadmi Party came to power in 2013, ending the 15-year-rule of Congress in Delhi. The government, however, fell after Kejriwal resigned. Delhi again went to the polls and the AAP registered a landsliding victory in 2015 by winning 67 seats out of 70.

The tenure of the Arvind Kejriwal government will end on February 2020.

(Nivedita Singh can be contacted at nivedita.singh@ians.in)