AAP is original, BJP duplicating policies: Kejriwal in Goa
Darpan News Desk IANS, 21 Sep, 2021 11:25 AM
Panaji, Sep 21 (IANS) Accusing the BJP-led coalition government of "duplicating" initiatives of the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi, AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal said the people of Goa should elect the "original" AAP, instead of the BJP, which merely duplicates its policies.
"(Chief Minister Pramod) Sawant said that water will be free in Goa. I was very happy. We did it four years ago in Delhi. I have heard that they have started doorstep delivery of services. We started it in Delhi three years ago," Kejriwal told a press conference in Mapusa town in North Goa.
"I believe that whatever is happening in Delhi, he (Sawant) is copying it in Goa. When the original is available, why do you need a duplicate? When the people of Goa can vote for the original, why do you need a duplicate? The duplicate person will end up doing 'gadbad' (confusion)," Kejriwal said.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in Goa have been engaged in a war of words and pre-poll announcements over the last few months ahead of the state Assembly polls, which are due in the coastal state in early 2022.
After the AAP announced free power to the tune of 300 units to domestic households in the state, the BJP-led coalition government has announced 16,000 free litres of water in every household.
The AAP on Tuesday also promised 80 per cent reservations for domiciled Goans and also made promises to allot doles to the tune of Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000 to unemployed youth and households, whose livelihoods were linked to the flagging tourism and defunct mining industry with no assured earnings.
In a hard-hitting response to his Haryana counterpart's tweets questioning him on farmer welfare, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday ripped into Manohal Lal Khattar's claims, terming them a "pathetic attempt" to cover up the "sustained and persistently shameful treatment meted out" to farmers by his government.
Rawat is scheduled to visit Punjab in a day or two and will talk to Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and state president Navjot Singh Sidhu and sort out the issues arising out of the differences between the two leaders.
The government has decided to call a special session of the Vidhan Sabha for one day on September 3 to commemorate the historic 400th Prakash Purb of Guru Tegh Bahadur.
Sonia Gandhi on Monday approved several committees ahead of the Assembly polls in Goa. Girish Chodankar has been retained as the state president and former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat will continue as the Congress legislative party leader while Alexio Sequeira is the Working state President.
After Taliban took over Kabul on August 15, Afghanistan has plunged into a big humanitarian crisis. Pakistan is perceived as having played a major role in bringing the Taliban back to power. As evacuation of foreign nationals winds down, a US missile defence system intercepted rockets fired towards the Kabul international airport.
Adityanath visited the families of those who lost their members and assured them of help. The Chief Minister also visited the 100-bed district hospital at Firozabad where children showing symptoms of the disease are being treated.
