Campaign fever goes up a notch

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday trained his guns at INDIA bloc ally Congress, telling the public that voting for it would only "cut votes" in a two-party race between the AAP and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the Delhi hot seat.

- Alok KN Mishra

NEW DELHI:

Addressing a rally in Badli to seek votes for AAP's Ajesh Yadav, Kejriwal said that the Congress and the BJP have "made a deal" and were fighting the Delhi Assembly elections together.

Kejriwal said: "Some people here are thinking about Congress. Why are you wasting your vote by giving it to Congress? Congress is not going to win. It will only cut votes. Internally, the Congress and BJP have made a deal. They are fighting the elections together. But they are not doing it for Delhi's progress; they are doing it to defeat the Aam Aadmi Party. The Aam Aadmi Party will work for you. Neither the Congress nor the BJP will help you."

The Congress hit back at the AAP. "This election is Arvind Kejriwal versus Delhi. The votes given to the Congress will mean fulfilment of all the promises the Congress has made," said Abhay Dubey, national spokesperson for the Congress.

Kejriwal addressed two rallies on the day, at Badli and Timarpur. In his address at Badli, Kejriwal said that a survey showed that 70% of women in Delhi have decided to vote for the AAP and urged them to convince men in their households to follow suit.

"I am assigning a duty to all women: sit your men down and explain to them. Tell them Kejriwal is the one who will work for them. Warn them strictly-if they press the wrong button, there will be consequences. If women say it, no man will dare to stray," Kejriwal said.

He also continued to repeat his allegation that if the BJP comes to power, it will stop "free power, free water, free bus rides for women, mohalla clinics and other welfare schemes", causing each household an additional expenditure of ₹25,000.