Months ahead of the state assembly polls in Chhattisgarh, scheduled to be held later this year, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal addressed a public event in the state on Saturday and spelled out 10 promises which he would fulfil if voted to power.
Punjab state chief and AAP politician Bhagwant Mann accompanied Kejriwal.
The promises made by Kejriwal included free electricity, monthly allowance for women and the unemployed, a waiver of pending electricity bills until November 2023, and others.
During his address, the Delhi state chief said the “guarantees” given to the people of the state are to him not like a fake manifesto and that he would die (if it comes to it) to fulfil them all.
As per the promises spelled out by the AAP national convenor, if his party is voted to power, he would provide 24-hour uninterrupted electricity supply, which would be free up to 300 units, a monthly allowance to women amounting to INR 1,000 ($12.03), a monthly allowance to the unemployed amounting to INR 3,000 ($36.08), and free quality education for school children.
Apart from this, Kejriwal said that if his party comes to power in the state, he would provide free and better health treatment to every citizen and have mohalla clinics (local clinics) in every village and ward in cities just as it is in Delhi.
Along with this, he also promised free pilgrimages for senior citizens, a corruption-free Chhattisgarh, INR 10 million ($120,254) to the kin of personnel of state police and army personnel of the state martyred in the line of duty, and regularize contractual employees.
He said that he would reveal the 10th promise, which is about farmers and tribals, during his next visit.
The address by the AAP chief has not gone down well with the newly-formed alliance partner Congress, which is currently in power in the state.
Congress politician Pawan Khera has questioned Kejriwal for comparing Chhattisgarh with Delhi, as he said that the comparison should be between the previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government with the current one.
In a tweet, Khera said: “Why go to Raipur? Performance of our Chhattisgarh government will be compared with the previous Raman Singh govt. Let us choose a sector of your choice and compare the performance of the Congress government in Delhi vs your govt here. Ready for a debate?”