We're going for win in all Punjab LS seats: Kejriwal

Tribune News Service

Ravi Dhaliwal

Gurdaspur, December 2

AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal today put a question mark over the “alliance” with the Congress in Punjab by claiming that his party will win all 13 Lok Sabha seats in the state apart from the Chandigarh seat.

“This makes it 14 seats for AAP. The Bhagwant Mann-led government has done enough work in Punjab and will emerge victorious on all the seats, including Chandigarh,” said Kejriwal while addressing a Vikas Kranti rally in Gurdaspur. Observers said this statement was at complete variance with the proclamations of Delhi-based Congress leaders who always maintained that a “Congress-AAP alliance for the 2024 General Election cannot be ruled out”.

Minutes before the Delhi CM made this statement, his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann, too, made a similar prediction. Kejriwal also announced a slew of projects amounting to Rs 1,854 crore for the twin border districts of Gurdaspur and Pathankot.

However, the duo immediately came under fire from their detractors. Their rivals claimed that many of the ventures were already operational and were just “rebranded, repackaged and refitted” not only to suit the occasion but also to score brownie points ahead of the Lok Sabha poll.

Residents were elated to see that one of the most prestigious projects of their city — a new bus stand-finally came into existence. The venture had been ready but was lying in a limbo for the last several months since local AAP satraps wanted it to be inaugurated by the CM. The Tibri road railway underpass, too, was formally inaugurated.

Chief Minister Mann warned his rivals that his government was using artificial intelligence (AI) to look into the corrupt practices of previous governments.

“By using AI, we have found that previous governments purportedly constructed roads which existed in files, but not on the ground. If a 4-km road was built, the files would show that 6 km had been constructed. Then, when repairs took place, money would be withdrawn from treasuries to repair even that extra 2 km which did not even exist,” he said.

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