Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday claimed that the upcoming assembly polls in Delhi will be a contest between his party and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), adding that the Congress will not be a major force this time.
"These elections will be a two-cornered fight. This time, voting for the Congress is wasting your vote. However, we will not target anyone this time. Our campaign will be a positive one and we will only ask for votes based on our work," Kejriwal told ANI in an exclusive interview.
"The BJP fights its battles under the name of Narendra Modi. I tell them that he is already the Prime Minister, he cannot be the chief minister of Delhi. The fight in Delhi will be between Arvind Kejriwal and whoever the BJP chooses as its face," he added.
Kejriwal further said that the fight between the two parties in Delhi is an unequal one.
"The fight is unequal. We fought the last elections with only Rs. 20 crores, and perhaps this time we may get Rs. 30 crores. They are fighting with Rs. 4,000 crores," he claimed.
"A national newspaper had started printing negative articles about us. When I asked the editor why, he said that a senior BJP leader had approached the COO of the media house and threatened him with dire consequences. From the very next day, the newspaper began printing those articles. Thus, we are fighting against major powers," he added.
Kejriwal further said he was of the opinion that there needn't necessarily be the same party in power at the Centre and in the state.
"There can be a separation of the Centre and the state. The BJP was in power in Gujarat for 12 years while the Centre was under the Congress, yet Gujarat was able to achieve significant development objectives. Delhi had a Congress government, but look at what state they left Delhi in," he said.
Kejriwal further defended his party, stating that the Aam Aadmi Party was not anti-business but was rather anti-corruption.
"We are not anti-business. The work we did in 49 days for the traders of Delhi, the Congress Government was not able to do in 15 years. There are 49 industrial areas in the city and all are in a terrible shape. We made plans for the upliftment of each and every one of them. We raised our voices against a few corrupt businesses, thus, we have been labelled as anti-business," he said
"We are not working for any class of people either. We are for honest people. The people who want honest and good governance in the city, they will all vote for us, whether rich or poor," Kejriwal added.
With the Union Cabinet recommending the dissolution of the Delhi Assembly and setting the stage for fresh elections in the days to come, political parties have begun finalizing their poll campaign strategy to grab power here.
President's rule was imposed in Delhi since February after Kejriwal-led AAP government stepped down after remaining in power for 49 days.
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