I don’t understand coalition politics; I don’t want to defeat anyone, I want to see the country win: Arvind Kejriwal
130 crore Indians have to come together for the sake of the country and drive it to progress: Arvind Kejriwal
We haven’t entered politics to gain power by hook or crook; we are here to change the system and protect the country: Arvind Kejriwal
AAP’s role in 2024 elections is not our concern; AAP & Kejriwal’s role in making India world’s best country is what we care about: Arvind Kejriwal
I want to be alive long enough to see India become the number one nation of the world: Arvind Kejriwal
BJP leaders used to ask why do we give free electricity; I have now made it optional, will give free electricity to those who ask for it: Arvind Kejriwal
So called economists write articles claiming freebie culture can destroy the country but not one of them comes forward to say that corruption culture will destroy the country: Arvind Kejriwal
These economists don’t say that Ministers shouldn’t get freebies; they have some problem with the public getting free facilities: Arvind Kejriwal
One of the biggest parties of this country is spending all its resources in causing riots and vandalism, is this how this country will progress?: Arvind Kejriwal
If you want riots, hooliganism, corruption, support those crooks; if you want progress, schools, hospitals, support AAP: Arvind Kejriwal
If you want staunch honesty and deshbhakti, come join hands and take this coalition of 130 crore Indians to the pinnacle of success: Arvind Kejriwal
NEW DELHI / MAHARASHTRA
Laying out its vision for the future, AAP announced its coalition for 2024 polls at an event organised in Nagpur today. AAP National Convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Shri Arvind Kejriwal said the party will form a mega-alliance with 130 crore Indians and make the country number one globally. Shri Kejriwal implied that AAP is not bothered about the elections or political gains for that matter and solely focuses on the development of the country and its people. The AAP Convenor stated, “I don’t understand coalition politics; I don’t want to defeat anyone, I want to see the country win. 130 crore Indians have to come together for the sake of the country and drive it to progress. We haven’t entered politics to gain power by hook or crook; we are here to change the system and protect the country. AAP’s role in the 2024 elections is not our concern; AAP & Kejriwal’s role in making India world’s best country is what we care about. I want to be alive long enough to see India become the number one nation of the world. BJP leaders used to ask why we give free electricity; I have now made it optional, and will give free electricity to those who ask for it. So called economists write articles claiming freebie culture can destroy the country but not one of them comes forward to say that corruption culture will destroy the country. These economists don’t say that Ministers shouldn’t get freebies; they have some problem with the public getting free facilities. One of the biggest parties of this country is spending all its resources in causing riots and vandalism, is this how this country will progress? If you want riots, hooliganism, corruption, support those crooks; if you want progress, schools, hospitals, support AAP. If you want staunch honesty and deshbhakti, come join hands and take this coalition of 130 crore Indians to the pinnacle of success.”
AAP National Convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Shri Arvind Kejriwal today attended a conclave organised by a media group in Nagpur, Maharashtra. At this event, Shri Arvind Kejriwal spoke about AAP vision for the future when asked about AAP’s role in the 2024 general elections. AAP’s Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Bhagwant Mann and Rajya Sabha MP Shri Raghav Chadha were also present at the event besides dignitaries of the media world.
Shri Arvind Kejriwal said, “Even though I have been asked to speak on AAP’s plan for 2024, I want to state clearly that AAP’s end goal is not 2024 or any other election. Our goal is transforming this country. We are not here for power. We are here for Bharat Mata. This is not a career choice for us. We all have left our successful careers behind to change the system. When I became the Delhi CM for the first time, I resigned within 49 days. There has been no other instance of a CM voluntarily resigning from his post for the sake of the public. We are not here to farm power, we are here to save the country. Our goal is not 2024. It is to serve society. When I go to the temple, I only have two prayers. I ask the Lord to spend all his power on making India the number one country of the world and make me capable enough to serve whatever duty he assigns me. My second prayer to the Lord is not let me live long enough to see India become the number one country of the world. It has been ten years but I still haven’t learnt how to do politics. I only know how to work. I can’t become corrupt in the lust for power like they have. Both in Delhi and Punjab, our first month was spent just being shocked by the amount of loot taking place under the previous governments. We don’t know how to earn dishonest money. We’re happy staying jobless but won’t steal someone else’s bread. The public may have their own political sidings but everyone in this country agrees that the AAP does not know how to practise the politics of hate, corruption, loot, violence and rioting.”
He added, “But yes, we do know how to build schools and hospitals. We’ve proven our capability in Delhi. The state of government schools in Delhi was terrible when we came to power. Children hated coming to schools. But in seven years, we transformed government schools to such a high standard that the whole world looks up to us. Our schools have seen a 99.97% pass rate in 12th this year. This is an unimaginable feat when it comes to even private schools, and we are talking cohesively at the state level. This year almost 4 lac students transferred from private schools to government schools in Delhi. This means that the schools which even poor families weren’t sending their children to have gotten so good that the rich are now sending their children there. A student of ours, Sudhanshu, belongs to a lower middle class family. But the facilities he got were so good that he cracked JEE and went into IIT Delhi in Mechanical Engineering. Then there’s the example of Faizu. He lives in a slum and yet made it to NSUT, Delhi in Mechanical Engineering. There’s Gagan, whose father passed away due to COVID and yet our schools were capable enough that he made it to IIT-BHU’s Chemical Engineering. They didn’t even imagine such a possibility when the previous governments ran their schools. Today 16 lac children trust the AAP Government run schools of Delhi and are dreaming big for their future. 450 students of ours have been continuously cracking IIT-JEE entrance for the last three years. The same story goes for NEET. Such things bring peace to my heart, not electoral glories. AAP wants to see the society thrive for good.”
He continued, “How did we revolutionise our schools? We razed down all the dilapidated school buildings and built new ones at the same spot. We ensured state-of-the-art infrastructure and world-class curriculum in these schools. We sent our principals to Europe, Canada, and Singapore for training. We sent our teachers to IIM-Lucknow and IIM-Ahmedabad for training. This has resulted in unprecedented results for us. This is why we’re taking our education system to the next level. We started the Happiness Curriculum to relieve these students from stress. Our students come from very conflicted families. There’s constant tension in their minds, they’re not at peace at home. This is why we thought we’ll alleviate their stress at the school. Before studying, these children meditate for 45 minutes in the school. They hear positive stories, discuss good things. Our classes got such appreciation that Melania Trump, the former First Lady of the US, herself came to attend our Happiness Class. This was a huge confidence booster not just for us but our students too. The BJP tried its best to stop her but she only wanted to see the Delhi Government Schools we built. She took the whole class to understand what we do. Our classes had such an impact that Delhi’s private schools have started adapting the Happiness Curriculum too.”
The Delhi CM stated, “If you notice our education system closely, you’d understand that it was made by the British like this so they could produce more clerks. Our children get degrees but when they go to get jobs there’s no job for them. Why? Because the education system is broken. This is why we’ve started the entrepreneurship curriculum. Right from class 9th, we are teaching our children to build businesses. Every child in class 11th & 12th gets Rs 2,000 from the government to develop a business idea. Our students get into groups and pool their funds to develop businesses. We’ve built 52,000 such teams. We selected the best business ideas and showcased these small startups to big investors. A team of 5 developed a business called Mystic Dates. They sell a date-based alternative to coffee. They got Rs 10,000 to invest in the business. In just 6 months, they earned 2.5 lacs from it. The investors were so impressed they put in Rs 17.35 lacs in this startup. Another startup of 8 students built a compost manufacturing company with an investment of Rs 16,000 and earned Rs 65,000 in ten months. They got an investment of 16 lacs for this business. Another team of 6 pooled in Rs 12,000 to build a gaming platform and made 1.5 lacs from it. They got a Rs 18 lac investment for their startup. These kids will not need jobs, they have already built successful businesses. We will tell our children to become job-providers. We won’t tell them to make pakoras like they do.”
He added, “We developed spectacular schools and hospitals in Delhi. Earlier, the condition of Delhi government’s hospitals was extremely poor, – no medicines or tests available, CT and other machines faulty and rusted, doctors prescribing tests from private labs which cost a fortune, boundary walls of these hospitals being stained – similar was the case in Delhi until several years ago. We completely transformed the state of these government hospitals, and formulated a system which involved work on 3 major levels needed to change the face of these institutes: Primary level involving the development of Mohalla Clinics, wherein we built clinics in every locality or colony with one doctor to treat minor ailments like cough/cold, fever, and other mild symptoms. All consultations, tests, and medicines at these clinics are free. The second level includes the polyclinics, which provides the services of 8 types of specialist doctors for the people of Delhi and has the facility for a one-day hospitalisation of patients as per requirement. For diseases and injuries for dire, we have the third level, which involves the Super Speciality Hospitals that cover all kinds of treatments. Earlier, the state of all these multi speciality hospitals were in abysmal condition. Hence, my first order of business was to direct all Medical Superintendents to send me a weekly report of the functioning of all medical equipment, status of availability of medicines, and other such updates – every Monday morning at 11 AM. Once I started reviewing these reports, all machines began to function properly, medicines and tests became accessible and available – every aspect of the hospitals began to operate smoothly. Today, the people of Delhi choose to go to Delhi’s government hospitals for their treatment rather than private institutes like Max or Apollo.”
He continued, “Another major step we took was to declare free treatment for the entire 2-crore population of Delhi. The cost of consultation, tests, medicines, and every other medical facility, no matter how mild or serious a disease or injury might be, is borne by the Delhi Government. I have a few examples to share about this provision of ours – Mithilesh Pandey of Delhi lives in a slum area and had pancreatic cancer which needed immediate surgery. If he had gone to get operated in a private hospital, it would have cost him around ₹6 lacs, his entire life’s savings, but he had his surgery for free at the GB Pant Hospital. Dakshinpuri’s Munni Devi, again hailing from the slums, had cancer in her gallbladder, and needed a stent to be installed – a procedure which would have cost her ₹4 lacs was done for free. Every person who wishes to get treated at a private hospital and spend an exorbitant fee for it is welcome to do so. However, the Delhi Government has the doors open to all its government hospitals for free medical facilities at any given time, for anyone.”
The AAP Convenor added, “The opposition parties consistently defame and slander me for these free facilities that I have provided. They keep chanting ‘Freebies! Freebies!’ and how Kejriwal is doing something wrong by giving these so-called ‘freebies’. I would like to ask the people here – should the students of our country receive quality education or not? Of course they should. If a child is born to a poor family, it is not their fault, and neither does it mean the kid should not have access to decent education. It is the duty of the Centre and state governments to ensure to provide a good education to every single child in this country. So what am I doing wrong in ensuring free and quality education for the children of Delhi? These children have the right to this education. Yet, these parties are always asking, ‘Why does Kejriwal give free education to students?’. Simply because Kejriwal is not conniving with the private school owners. I don’t get involved in these immoral and ‘settings’ with private players like they do.”
He further said, “We recently started an initiative to provide free yoga classes to Delhi residents – all they are required to do is get a group of 25 interested persons together and give a missed call on the issued number, after which the Delhi Government will provide them with a yoga trainer for free. With this idea, yoga classes have now started taking place all over Delhi. Tell me what I am doing wrong in providing free yoga classes? Earlier, Delhi used to face power cuts that lasted over 8-9 hours, and now every locality in Delhi has a 24 hour electricity supply, that too for free. But the BJP leaders repeatedly question me, asking why I give free electricity. I have hence revamped the scheme and given the choice to the people of Delhi on whether they want to avail the electricity subsidy, or not. Earlier, everyone had access to free electricity due to which these other parties were creating an unnecessary ruckus; now, only those who want free electricity supply can avail it, and the others can continue to pay.”
He added, “The Delhi Government also has a scheme called the Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra Yojna under which we send the elderly on pilgrimage to places like Ayodhya to seek blessings of Lord Shri Ram for free. Again, what is wrong in facilitating free pilgrimage for senior citizens and devotees? It is in fact an act of benevolence. It is virtuous to make pilgrimage, as well as to help someone go on pilgrimage. Yet, these parties question why Kejriwal is providing free pilgrimage. I have observed a lot of speeches made by these leaders who are hell bent on smearing my name – where they chant, ‘freebies are wrong, freebies shouldn’t be given’ followed by ‘if our government is formed we will give 200 units of electricity for free’ all in a single breath. This is the hypocrisy of these opposition leaders. They slander me for my ‘freebies’, and go ahead and promise the same ‘freebies’ in order to get votes. What about the free facilities these politicians are enjoying? As the audience member rightly said, ‘Netaon ka free bandh karo’. Each and every politician, MP, MLA, minister, and so on – they all receive 4000 units of electricity for free. But the moment a poor person is given merely 200 units of free electricity, they all come out in protest. Their hypocrisy is truly astounding. These politicians receive free treatment, including international medical attention in places like America, but yet again they grow restless when a poor person is given medicines free of cost at a government hospital.”
Shri Arvind Kejriwal stated, “These days many of these people have become experts on economics, writing lengthy articles in newspapers about how ‘if the culture of freebies continues, it will ruin our country’. But not a single one of these so-called economists is writing about how continued corruption will damage our nation. According to them, corruption must continue, since they too are getting their cut in one way or another. Where do you think I am able to source these free facilities from? It is simple – I ended corruption in Delhi. All the money which was earlier being squandered by politicians and officers, going into their private pockets, is now being used in the right place. That money is now being used for the welfare of the people, for I have started distributing among the Delhiites by means of free electricity, education, medical treatment, and more. Not a single one of these economists contested the freebies which these politicians are receiving either, but they are quick to question and object to the common public getting similar facilities, even if on a much smaller scale.”
He continued, “People often ask me which party I will form a national alliance with. To them I say, I do not know how to practise petty, power-oriented politics. I do not understand the concept of these 10-20 party alliances, all for the sake of defeating one party, or as a way to grasp onto power in one way or another. I do not wish to ally with any party this way, nor do I wish to defeat anyone this way. All I intend to do is lead our nation to victory. The only alliance I am interested in is the alliance of all 130 crore people of the nation, of all our country’s doctors, engineers, CAs, journalists, labourers, farmers, lawyers, of all 130 crore common Indians. This alliance is what will take our nation forward to the pinnacle of progress and development. The numerous achievements that our country has made today can in no way be attributed to these petty politicians, but our dedicated and diligent professionals and workers. For example, there is one such inspirational personality who goes by the name of Bhanu Srivastav that I read about. He is an employee at a Canara Bank branch, and works tirelessly at his job. After his work hours, however, he takes two hours out every evening to teach the children that reside in slum areas nearby. Our nation has reached where it is, and continues to be a source of pride for us due to people like Bhanu Srivastav. Another inspiring story is that of Kedar Prasad who lives in a village in Jharkhand which does not have an electricity supply. To solve this problem, he raised funds and developed a hydropower project to ensure electricity supply in each and every street in his village. These are the people keeping our country alive, not the corrupt politicians who have not missed a single opportunity to plunder the nation’s vaults. All such people must come together to take our nation ahead, only then will we flourish.”
He concluded, “There is a major political party today which does not miss any chance to welcome any and every petty hooligan and criminal to its family from all corners of the country. It is appalling to witness how they incite and enable acts of violence and hooliganism, communal riots, and damage the entire country. When the horrifying incident of a rape occurs, this party leads a ‘Shobha Yatra’ honouring the rapists, felicitating them with garlands. Our nation cannot progress with such people wielding power who are dedicated to crime and hooliganism. If you want these riots and this violence to continue, you may support that party and its criminal leaders. But if you want progress and development, education and healthcare, then you must support me. If you want corruption to persist, you should support them. But if you want a staunchly honest government running the country, you must join me in creating a new alliance of all 130 crore Indians, and we will work together to take India to greater heights of progress and glory.”