Arvind Kejriwal at India Today Conclave 2014 says 'We are neither against Congress or BJP, we are against corruption'

Former Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Admi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal came in for some tough questions from the audience, even as he unleashed a volley of governance issues against the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party in the final session titled 'Dharna, Democracy and Demographics – Making Governance Work' on the first day of the India Today Conclave 2014.

In his opening remarks, Kejriwal, who was Delhi's CM for 49 days before he resigned accusing the Congress and the BJP of stalling the Janlokpal Bill, took the battle straight into Gujarat Chief Minister and the BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's bastion, accusing him and the Gujarat police of detaining him with an intent to halt his recent campaign in Gujarat. "I tried to meet Narendra Modi. But he sent police five kilometres from his home to stop me. Why did he do that? I am an ex-CM at least," he said.

In a bid to prove the Gujarat CM, as well as the development card played by the BJP, showcasing the western state as a hotbed for investment wrong, Kejriwal said that his experience in Gujarat was "shocking". "Modi was saying that inside Gujarat is a Ram Rajya. So, we wanted to see what is happening there. It was shocking."

The RTI activist turned politician said that he and his team went to some towns and villages, and was appalled to find that people had to pay for getting jobs, licences and even filing FIRs. Ministers like Purushottam Solanki are still in his cabinet, despite under shade of corruption, he added.

However, he faced sharp questions from the audience, many of whom wondered why he was blind to the mistakes of his own partymen and was eager to prove everyone else as corrupt. Admitting that he himself was at a loss to suggest a good PM alternative to Narendra Modi, when he has ruled himself out of the PM contest, Kejriwal said, "I have no answers. The country is going through a very tumultuous phase. The elections will throw up a fractured verdict."

In his speech, Kejriwal questioned Modi's claims on the progress in the lives of farmers in Gujarat. "There are four lakh farmers whose applications for electricity are pending for several years," he said. Many villages do not have electricity. "All subsidies have ended, but Tata's plant gets subsidies, was what the locals say," he added, taking a dig at the Gujarat CM for his pro-business initiatives, including welcoming the Tatas to set up a plant to make the Nano in Sanand, after it found resistance from the locals in West Bengal's Singur. "Modi says there is 11 per cent growth in agriculture. But we have found that agriculture has seen negative growth," he claimed.

The healthcare sector in the state also left a lot to be desired, said Kejriwal. Some hospitals were found to be understaffed. Many hospitals had no patients or medicines. "Many small scale industries have closed down in Gujarat. This cannot be a development model," he said, even as many in the audience could be seen shaking their heads in disapproval, since the state is known to be a better facilitator for setting up small industries than many others.

Kejriwal also wondered how the Gujarat CM, who could not guarantee protection for a former CM, could give protection to his citizens. "People say they vote for BJP since there is no opposition. They want the leader to sit with them and talk to them their problems," Kejriwal, who led a protest march against the Delhi police when he was the CM, said.

Questioning Modi's claims on infrastructure development in Gujarat, Modi said, "Highways are good, but where are the roads inside the villages? Even in Modi's own constituency, there are such issues."

Claiming that in the 49 days they were in power, AAP was able to bring down corruption in Delhi substantially, Kejriwal said AAP will focus on the rule of law. "We will not interfere in business, but wrongdoers will be punished," he added.

"We will focus on education, and in one generation, we can bring about a big change and be on path to be a superpower. We should decide - should we change the parties, or the system?."

Reiterating his stance that he has no ambition to be either PM or CM, but wanted to eliminate corruption in the country, Kejriwal, who even dispassionately listened to an SMS jibe read out by former Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar, was categorical about one aspect – that the AAP "will finish the politics of both Congress and BJP in this country."

Source : Equity Bulls

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