Retracting from his earlier statements that Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will project a Punjabi face for the post of Chief Minister (CM), senior leader and Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia urged people to vote for AAP if they want to make Arvind Kejriwal next CM of the state.
Speaking at a rally in Mohali, near Chandigarh, Sisodia, a close confidante of the Delhi CM urged people to vote assuming that party’s national convener Arvind Kejriwal will be the next CM of Punjab.
“Aap sab ye maan kar chalo ki Punjab ka mukhya mantri Arvind Kejriwal ban ne wala hai. Sahi bol raha hoon mein. Jitne vaade kiye hain, wo sab Kejriwal ki zimmedari hai, ki pura kar ke jayenge. Vote uske naam pe do (Assume that Kejriwal will become the next CM of Punjab. He will ensure all promises are fulfilled. Vote on his name),” said Kejriwal, while addressing the rally, amidst slogans of ‘Kejriwal Kejriwal, sara Punjab tere naal’.
Though, Kejriwal had been the AAP’s face in Punjab, but the party has been dodging the question on announcing the CM candidate. The move is also aimed at keeping a united front ahead of the elections. With some of its leaders including MP Bhagwant Mann already making pitch to be the CM candidate, declaring any other name is beset with risks.
Making the announcement at a time, when Kejriwal has become symbolic of AAP’s crusade against corruption and is also being pitted against Congress’Captain Amarinder and SAD’s Prakash Singh Badal , the step will only galvanize the party campaign. Kejriwal had earlier maintained that AAP will not announce the CM candidate until the conclusion of polls.
Mocking Sisodia for exposing the party’s plan and retracting from his earlier statements that the CM candidate will be from Punjab, Deputy CM, Sukhbir Badal said, “AAP has proved it does not trust Punjabis”.
Stepping up the tirade, Badal said AAP’s decision to field MP Bhagwant Mann from Jalalabad and Himmat Singh Shergill from Majithia was done to remove contenders who could challenge Kejriwal. “With Haryanvi Kejriwal as CM candidate, what will be fate of SYL, Chd as well as Punjabi speaking areas of Punjab still left in Haryana?” he tweeted.
Captain Amarinder also slammed the AAP leader, saying Kejriwal had proved what Congress had all along been maintaining – that he had his eyes on the top post. “Kejriwal’s ugly intentions had been thoroughly exposed with this development, which had shown what a slimy liar the Delhi chief minister was”, said Captain Amarinder.
“From his lies on chief ministerial and deputy chief ministerial posts for Punjab to his conflicting statements on SYL and other issues, Kejriwal had all along been trying to befool the people in a desperate bid to seize power in the state and exploit it for personal gains after having failed to realize his dirty plans in Delhi,” he said.
Source: dnaindia.com