No competition from Congress, BJP: Manish Sisodia

By Nivedita Singh

New Delhi, Jan 19 (SocialNews.XYZ) Senior Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia said his party will win all the 70 seats in the February 8 assembly elections as there is no competition from either the Congress or the BJP.

Speaking to IANS, Sisodia said people can see the work done by the BJP and the Congress in the other states and if they compare it to that of the AAP, the two parties are not in competition with Delhi's ruling party.

"There is no competition from anyone. Look at the other states ruled by the two parties. The cost of electricity is so high. Education is so costly. All the BJP leaders in Delhi are saying they will stop the free subsidy on electricity and water. They will also stop free travel for women in public buses. People do not like them and so there is no competition," the Delhi Deputy Chief Minister said.

Sisodia said that it was evident from the statements made by the BJP leaders that they have surrendered before Delhi Chief Minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal.

"Their (BJP leader's) statements show that they have surrendered and they too know that Arvind Kejriwal is coming back to power," the member of the Political Affairs Committee of the AAP said while speaking to IANS.

The journalist-turned-politician said that work done by the government and not political slugfest, as is the tradition during elections in the country, will be the driving force for the assembly polls.

Sisodia, who plays a crucial role in both AAP and Delhi government, said the people of Delhi are happy with the Aam Aadmi Party as it has solved the everyday issues faced by the common man.

"The people of Delhi are happy that so much work has been done for electricity, water, education and health, along with developments in other local issues. No other government ever has done so much for the people of Delhi, or even anywhere in the country. And so, work done for the common man is the driving force of this election campaign," said the minister, who holds Education, Finance, Planning, Land and Building, Vigilance, Services, Women and Child Development, Art, Culture and Languages and all other departments not specifically allotted to any minister.

It is the confidence in the work done by the government, Sisodia added, that has encouraged the party to ask people openly to vote for AAP only if they feel the party has worked.

"It will be the first time ever that a ruling party is seeking votes by saying vote for us only if you feel we have worked. We are saying openly that if anyone feels we have not worked, they should not vote for us," the MLA from the Patparganj constituency of East Delhi told IANS.

The minister also took on the BJP for the lack of a chief minister candidate. "There is no credible face in the BJP against Kejriwal. They have no one who can compete with Kejriwal. The BJP's CM face will be compared to Kejriwal and the name should have something to compete with Kejriwal. Delhi should have an option to compare. We even helped them (BJP) filter seven faces from the party, but they cannot even choose from those seven faces," Sisodia said referring to an earlier campaign "Kejriwal vs Who" by the party.

The AAam Aadmi Party had put a poster outside its office wishing happy new year to BJP's Gautam Gambhir, Manoj Tiwari, Vijay Goel, Hardeep Singh Puri, Harsh Vardhan, Vijender Gupta and Parvesh Verma, calling them seven chief minister candidates of the Delhi BJP.

On the issues of the CAA and the NRC, Sisodia said it is BJP's character to bring issues which create apprehensions in the minds of people.

"During the elections, they (BJP) bring such issues to distract people. However, they will not be able to make any difference this time. The elections will be fought on the basis of work done by the AAP government."

Delhi is going to polls on February 8 and the counting of votes will take place on February 11.

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

Source: IANS