New Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal cannot be chief minister because he can’t sign any file according to Supreme Court directions, and he has already termed incumbent CM Atishi as “temporary”, BJP MP and Delhi in-charge Baijayant Panda has said, seeking to turn the tables on AAP which has been raising the issue of the BJP having no CM face in poll-bound Delhi.
In an interview with ThePrint, Panda said people in the national capital wanted conflict-free governance and would “definitely” vote for the BJP in the 5 February assembly polls.
Pointing out the key priorities of the party, the BJP leader emphasised that all welfare-related schemes will continue in Delhi once the BJP is voted to power. He also stressed on the party’s “record of keeping its promises” and asked the AAP, in power in Delhi, to reveal who its CM candidate is.
“(AAP convenor and former Delhi CM) Kejriwal is not allowed to sign the CM’s files, so he can’t be chief minister. And he has called their current CM as temporary. Now if their former chief minister can’t be a chief minister and the current chief minister is temporary, they have to answer the question: who is the leader of their team?” Panda said.
Invest in Trusted Journalism
Your support helps us deliver unbiased, on-the-ground reporting, in-depth interviews and insightful opinions that matter.
He added: “In all the states where BJP provides welfare programmes, they are managed well, such as Ayushman Bharat, the world’s largest health safety net, Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, the world’s largest food aid programme. Fiscally, these states are managed very well. They’re not deep into the red as Delhi has become under AAPda.”
He alleged that the AAP feared that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would become “even more popular if central government programmes are implemented in Delhi”.
This is why they have stalled the implementation of Ayushman Bharat, which “would have benefited 51 lakh citizens of Delhi with a health safety net”, Panda said.
Referring to the AAP-run government in Punjab, he said that while the party had promised the state’s women financial assistance three years ago, “they’ve cheated them”.
“The women of Punjab are protesting almost daily. They have promised it (similar aid) in Delhi. They haven’t done it (neither in Delhi nor in Punjab). So, the key difference between the BJP and AAP is when we make a promise, it has Modiji’s guarantee. People know that it will be implemented. There’s no fakery involved. Ours is fiscally responsible and, most importantly, you can’t find corruption in BJP-implemented welfare programmes,” he added.
The BJP has been successful in Delhi at the parliamentary level, winning all seven Lok Sabha seats in 2014, 2019 and 2024. However, assembly election results have been disappointing for it, with the party now holding just eight of 70 seats. The AAP had won 62 seats in 2020.
Also Read: BJP hasn’t won these Delhi seats since 1993. How it plans to break the jinx this time
‘Scam after scam’
Panda, who was made in-charge of the Delhi elections last year, expressed confidence about the party coming to power in the Capital.
According to BJP sources, the party has chalked out an elaborate plan to capture Delhi this time and has set a target of increasing votes by at least 20,000 per assembly seat, compared to the previous election. Apart from this, all party workers have been told to garner more votes in each booth.
“People of Delhi want conflict-free governance in Delhi; they want a BJP government, Delhi doesn’t look like the capital of India; there has been no infrastructure development; water remains undrinkable, no public transport infrastructure development has taken place. People are fed up,” Panda told ThePrint.
Targeting Kejriwal, Panda said he built a “Sheesh Mahal”, which includes a bar built at the cost of the government, gold-plated wash basins, toilets and curtains worth lakhs.
The reference was to the alleged use of “extravagant luxurious items” to renovate the official bungalow that Kejriwal occupied in his capacity as Delhi CM.
“Right from the liquor scam, classroom scam, mohalla clinic scam, this government has indulged in scam after scam. Their leaders have spent many months and sometimes years in jail. The CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General) has come out with its Rs 2,000-crore scam report. They no longer dare to call themselves kattar imaandar (fully honest). There is such an overwhelming swell of public support for the BJP this time,” Panda claimed.
The BJP’s campaign has highlighted the benefit of a “double-engine” government, Panda said, adding that “Delhiites want a government that works hand-in-hand with the central government to develop the city”.
Asked whether he was expecting a triangular contest in Delhi, Panda said that the “Congress is fighting for survival”.
“They have tried every trick but we have been beating them hands down. For them, you know, they really have to figure out how to continue to exist and so they’re fighting for survival. They have tried every trick. They’ve even tried aligning with AAPda in the last Lok Sabha election. They contested together. We beat them hands down. So whether they work with Aapda or they work separately, we will emerge victorious,” Panda said, emphasising that the BJP’s strategy was to get more than 51 percent vote-share in Delhi.
‘We have Modi, who is leader of their team?’
Asked whether PM Modi was the face of the BJP’s election campaign, considering that the party has not declared a CM face, Panda said: “PM Modi is the face not only of India. He’s the world’s most popular leader.”
“It’s not us saying it. It’s survey after survey after survey over every month over the years. He is the world’s most popular leader and obviously we get benefit from that. Obviously, there is a Modi factor that adds to the votes that we get as the BJP, the world’s largest political party,” he added.
Panda further said the party’s strategy over the past decade of having a “collective leadership” in every state has worked, including in Odisha, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, and this is what is being followed in Delhi too.
At the same time, Panda asserted, while the BJP is contesting the Delhi election under a collective leadership, it is the AAP that needs to clarify who its CM candidate is.
“One of the narratives that they tried to spin is that they have a so-called face, actually they don’t. Because after spending time in jail (over the Delhi “liquor scam”), the former CM has been released on bail. His trial is yet to commence under very strict conditions by the Supreme Court. He’s not allowed to go into the chief minister’s office,” Panda said.
ThePrint had earlier reported how Union ministers, national leaders and those from neighbouring states had been given specific responsibilities by the BJP. For instance, each Union minister and a few party leaders have been assigned two assembly constituencies to oversee aspects of campaigning and organisation ahead of the Delhi polls.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
Also Read: Freebies dominate BJP’s Delhi manifesto. Rs 21,000 to pregnant women, free cylinder on Holi, Diwali
