Raipur: Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal announced ten "guarantees" on Saturday, including free electricity, a monthly'samman rashi' for women, and a monthly allowance of Rs 3,000 for the unemployed, in an effort to gain ground in the Congress-ruled state of Chhattisgarh.
The Chief Minister of Delhi, speaking at an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convention here, vowed to do the same if his party is elected to power in Chhattisgarh, as it has in Delhi and Punjab.
Kejriwal published a 'guarantee card' outlining nine pledges, and he has claimed that the tenth guarantee is related to farmers and tribals, but he will announce it during his next visit.
The AAP fielded candidates in 85 of the total 90 seats in the 2018 Chhattisgarh assembly elections, but they were unsuccessful. None of its nominees were able to keep the deposit from being lost.
This is not some phoney manifesto or'sankalp patra'; instead, I offer ten assurances to you now. The AAP national convenor vowed that even if Kejriwal were to pass away, the party would see its commitments through.
Never in India's 76 years of independence has a political party tried to win over voters by pledging to fund infrastructure improvements like new schools or hospitals. Only the AAP addresses the problems facing society. None of us got into politics for the cash. The citizens of Delhi have voted us into office three times. He reasoned that since this had occurred, it meant that they were onto something excellent.
Kejriwal promised a number of things, including free electricity (up to 300 units per household per day) for life, a moratorium on all unpaid electricity bills until November 2023, a monthly honorarium of Rs 1,000 for all women over the age of 18, and free, high-quality public schooling for all children.
Chhattisgarh will follow Delhi's lead and update all of its public schools to the latest standards, and the state will prohibit private schools from charging exorbitant tuition. He also promised that all temporary educators would be made permanent and that all teaching vacancies would be filled.
According to Kejriwal, an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Chhattisgarh would follow suit with Delhi in providing free and better health care to all citizens, establishing mohalla clinics in every village and ward in cities, providing free pilgrimage for senior citizens, guaranteeing a corruption-free state, providing Rs 1 crore to the kin of personnel of state police and army jawans (who belong to Chhattisgarh), and regularising contractual employees.
He promised that some 10 lakh unemployed persons will be hired by the government, and that the process of hiring them would be conducted openly and without corruption or suggestions.
Unemployed people will receive a monthly stipend of Rs 3,000, he said.
Bhagwant Mann, the chief minister of Punjab and an AAP leader, accompanied Kejriwal on his trip there.
Last month, Kejriwal held a rally in Bilaspur where he spoke to the audience. He went to a gathering of AAP employees in Raipur back in March.
Originally from the Kanker district in the Bastar region, tribal leader Komal Hupendi was the Chief Ministerial candidate put out by the AAP in the 2018 elections. Hupendi is the official party leader of the state.
AAP national general secretary (organisation) and Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab Sandeep Pathak is reportedly a leading candidate for the party's CM face alongside Hupendi, according to party sources here.
Pathak is originally from the Chhattisgarh province of Mungeli.
Before becoming a member of the Rajya Sabha last year, not much was known about Pathak's involvement in the AAP or his family's history in Chhattisgarh.
According to party insiders, the party has been concentrating on winning seats in the Bilaspur and Bastar divisions because both Pathak and Hupendi are from those areas.
There are a total of 59 assembly districts in Chhattisgarh, with Bastar having the fewest (12 districts) and Bilaspur having the most (24).
Kejriwal's promises, according to senior journalist and political commentator R Krishna Das, show that the AAP is trying to mimic the Congress's strategy from the last time around, when it promised a plethora of goodies.
Congress rode promises of a higher Minimum Support Price for paddy, a loan forgiveness, a half-price energy bill programme, and the regularisation of contractual staff to 68 assembly seats in 2018, ending 15 years of BJP control.
The Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress Party are both members of the national opposition INDIA coalition. However, Das claims that the BJP will benefit in Chhattisgarh because the Kejriwal-led party will take votes away from the incumbent Congress.—Inputs from Agencies
