‘First 30 years it was Cong, then BJP; time for change': Kejriwal tells people to prepare for BJP's exit
Vasava was arrested on July 5 in an alleged attempted murder case after a brawl with Dediapada taluka BJP president Sanjay Vasava during a meeting at the Dediapada Prant office.
On Thursday, the two AAP leaders also talked about the MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) scam and paper leaks apart from discussing issues of employment, education, healthcare and road infrastructure during the rally in Narmada district's Dediapada.
Criticising both the BJP and the Congress, Kejriwal and Mann termed party leader Gopal Italia's recent victory from Visavadar as 'a positive sign' for the AAP in the upcoming elections.
Punjab CM Mann said, 'Aam public hai, chup rahe toh paanch saal, seene pe pathar rakh le dus saal, aankhein band kar le pandrah saal, jeeb ko taala laga le pachees saal, kuch bina bole tees saal… par tees saal ke baad jab janta jaagti hai toh tees saal ka hisaab tees minute me le leti hai (The common public remained silent for five years, endured for 10 years, shut their eyes for 15 years, locked their pockets for 25 years, didn't say anything for 30 years…but after 30 years when the public awakens… they will ask for accountability in 30 minutes).
Kejriwal added, 'Samay ka chakra ghoomta hai…pehla tees saal Congress, phir tees saal BJP. Ab BJP ke jaane ka time aa gaya. Bye bye BJP (The wheel of time turns…first 30 years of Congress, then 30 years of BJP. Now the time has come for BJP to go).'
Kejriwal and Mann, who were on a two-day visit to Gujarat, had attended the Mahapanchayat of cattle herders in Modasa on Wednesday.
'In 2022, an Adivasi man, Chaitar Vasava, fought the elections. He is an educated member of the tribal community and an honest man… so you made him your MLA. Since Vasava has become an MLA, he has raised the issues of the public regarding schools, hospitals, electricity, jal, jungle, jameen, roads… Then Chaitar began getting government records. He saw that the government money sent for school, hospitals and roads were going into these people's pockets. One small neta of theirs becomes MLA and from cycle he has now 10 big cars… from a small house, he has a palace, from where? From stealing your money. Chaitar began exposing their secrets and became the voice of the Adivasi community,' said Kejriwal.
He added, 'The BJP government got scared that if Chaitar keeps speaking up for the Adivasis, they won't vote for them. Then Chaitar looked into the MGNREGA scheme, where you get a minimum wage for 100 days. Who goes to work for minimum wage? The poorest of the poor. These BJP people are so 'gande and neech' (bad and selfish), that they even stole that money. Chaitar exposed corruption in MGNREGA first in the Vidhan Sabha, then in front of the media and then on the roads'.
'The minister didn't resign but both his sons went to jail,' he said while taking a dig at Gujarat minister Bachu Khabad.
Meanwhile, Vasava's wives, Varsha and Shakuntala, were also present at the gathering and the former read a message from the jailed MLA to his constituents, who in turn, raised the slogan 'jail ke tale tutenge, Chaitar Vasava chhootenge' (The jail locks will break, Chaitar Vasava will be free).
Thanking the people for their support, Varsha read Vasava's message saying, 'After becoming MLA, I haven't stayed at home for a single day. My people have faced injustice by the government and I have fought against that, and so the government has falsely put me in jail. The truth is that where the meeting was held, no such incident took place. It is a made up story and the police made the CCTV footage disappear…they are trying to implicate me in a false case. When I went to file an FIR, the police made me sit for 3 to 4 hours and didn't let me speak to the media…the police are working with the government.'
Varsha further read out, 'The Rs 2,500 crore MGNREGA scam was done by Bachhu Khabad and his sons are out on bail and the one who exposed them is in jail. Isn't this a political conspiracy? If anything happens to me or my family, the police will be responsible for it.'
Speaking in favour of Vasava, Kejriwal said: 'They keep sending AAP leaders to jail. Last year, they kept me in jail for a year. They put Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain, Sanjay Singh in jail, they thought we would get scared, that this would break our party but our party became stronger. We are not going to be scared. There are still two years for the next election. You just see, they will send Gopal Italia and Isudan Gadhvi to jail as well.'
Meanwhile, Punjab CM Mann said, 'They think the poor people can be controlled.. they have corruption money and can purchase the administration. I say collect how much money, diamonds and pearls you want, but a coffin doesn't have pockets. Chaitar hasn't been jailed for the first time. Last time, when the administration came to crush a farmer's crops under a tractor, Chaitarbhai stood in front of the tractor. He went to jail then also.'
Saying that AAP gives tickets to the 'Aam Aadmi', Kejriwal exhorted the youth to step forward to take part in the upcoming Taluka Panchayat, Zilla and Nagarpalika elections.
Slamming the Congress, Kejriwal added, 'Beware of the Congress. Gujarat doesn't have a BJP government. It has a Congress-BJP alliance government. They loot the people together. Till now, there was no opposition in Gujarat. Now there is. We will fight with you but you have to take responsibility.'
Hitting back at Kejriwal for his remarks, Gujarat Congress spokesperson Dr Manish Doshi said, 'His habit of lying is still going on. Whether it is Delhi, Haryana or Punjab, or (during) Gujarat 2022 elections, if you see any poll results, it is clear they have helped the BJP. AAP should stop misleading the people of the country and stop cheating the public of Gujarat. Kejriwal is working to damage the Congress and help the BJP win.'
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