Congress’ Sandeep Dikshit accuses AAP of looting people, asks “What are they giving other than freebies?”

New Delhi [India], January 20 (ANI): Congress’ New Delhi Assembly constituency candidate Sandeep Dikshit did door-to-door campaigning in his constituency on Monday and lambasted the Aam Aadmi Party for giving “freebies” and looting the people of Delhi.

“What are they giving other than freebies? This is not your money, this is the money of the taxpayers of Delhi. Which you are looting…you are only looting the public’s money to win votes. One thing has been proved that Arvind Kejriwal can do nothing other than giving freebies,” he told ANI on Monday.

Dikshit has filed a Rs 10 crore defamation suit in the Delhi High Court against Delhi CM Atishi, AAP leader Sanjay Singh and others.

The lawsuits stem from accusations made by the two AAP leaders during a press conference on December 26, 2024, in New Delhi, where they alleged that Dikshit had accepted “crores of rupees” from the BJP and conspired with the party to sabotage AAP’s chances in the upcoming elections. Dikshit termed them as baseless and defamatory.

Congress party’s Delhi President Devendra Yadav condemned AAP for “crushing the rights of Dalits.”

Extending his criticism to Punjab too, as AAP rules the state, he told ANI, “Arvind Kejriwal and the AAP government in Delhi and Punjab are crushing the rights of Dalits… They (AAP) are in power in Delhi and Punjab but not a single Rajya Sabha member has been nominated from the Dalit community and the minority community…Arvind Kejriwal has been exposed and he is anti-Dalit.”

Mentioned that the Delhi government has not managed to make certain Municipal Corporation of Delhi employees permanent, Yadav added, “We have been repeating that Kejriwal is against Dalits. In 2013, it was the same Kejriwal ji who said that MCD employees would be made permanent. But not even one employee was made permanent…During his tenure as CM, Rajender Gautam, Raajkumar Anand left this (AAP) party…They announce schemes but they put such conditions that only very few people could avail of its benefits.”

On the AAP side, the party released a satirical book titled “Achievements of BJP in Delhi.”

Taking potshots on the BJP-led Central government, AAP MP Sanjay Singh said that everything is “written” in this book about the promises which BJP had made, whether it is about giving permanent houses, doubling the MSPs for formers, strengthening the rupees or protecting the border.

“Modi had made many promises after becoming the Prime Minister. He had said that by 15th August 2022, everyone will get a permanent house, farmers will get MSP, the rupee will be strengthened, the border will be protected… Regarding Delhi, he had said that permanent registry will be given to those living in slums. The BJP people could not tell what achievements have been made in those promises, we are releasing those achievements,” the AAP MP said.

AAP’s national convenor and party’s candidate from New Delhi Assembly constituency Arvind Kejriwal addressed the people of Vishwas Nagar area, urging them to “not press the Lotus button even by mistake.”

He further claimed that the area is lagging in development due to the constituency electing a BJP MLA.

“Vishwas Nagar lagged behind in development because people here elected a BJP MLA. He kept fighting with us for 10 years. This time Vishwas Nagar will elect an AAP MLA,” read a post by Kejriwal’s account.

“Only three mohalla clinics have been built in Vishwas Nagar. Because you chose the wrong MLA. I told them many times to get a Mohalla clinic built at their place but they said that you will get the credit,” Kejriwal said during his speech.

On the BJP’s side, party MP Anurag Thakur hit out at AAP, accusing them standing “shoulder to shoulder” with the alleged “tukde tukde” gang.

Who stood shoulder to shoulder with the tukde tukde gang who raised anti-national slogans? Who gave him (chief of tukde tukde gang) the ticket? It was Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal…”Thakur, former Union Minister, said in a press conference.

He accused former AAP leader Tahir Hussain of “defaming” the country by “inciting riots” in the national capital. “Who defamed the country by inciting riots in Delhi? If Tahir Hussain is in jail today, can the Aam Aadmi Party run away from him?” the BJP MP asked.

Delhi BJP President Virendraa Sachdeva and party MP Yogender Chandoliya visited the JJ Cluster area of Bawana town, to showcase the alleged disrepair and the “grim state” of the government flats in the area. The BJP leaders also live-streamed the state of the flats, and strongly criticised the AAP-led government for “wasting public money.”

The BJP also attacked AAP over “helping Rohingya refugees” by giving them ration cards and Aadhar cards, with both party leaders Ramesh Bidhuri and MP Manoj Tiwari alleging the same.

“AAP leaders have made Aadhaar cards and ration cards of Rohingyas and Bangladeshi infiltrators…This should be investigated. After the BJP government is formed in the national capital, detention centres will be built and Rohingyas and infiltrators will be put in them,” Bidhuri told ANI.

BJP’s Kalkaji assembly candidate has also said that within 30 days of BJP winning the election, detention centres will be built and strict action will be taken against anyone helping illegal immigrants.

“AAP gives protection to Rohingyas and Bangladeshis, now there is protest against it. The country is shocked by the case of Saif Ali Khan. A big question is being raised on parties like AAP which support illegal infiltrators. The people of Delhi will throw out the party which supports illegal infiltrators in the elections,” Manoj Tiwari told ANI.

BJP’s New Delhi assembly candidate Parvesh Verma accused Arvind Kejriwal of unlawfully influencing voters in East Kidwai Nagar, claiming that the AAP leader “unlawfully distributed chairs” to Resident Welfare Association (RWA) while addressing them during a public meeting.

Verma also met advocates in his constituency and urged them to look at the “false promises,” and distracting from real issues.

“Kejriwal never talks about real issues because he has no achievements to showcase. In the last 10 years, he has only made false promises and misled people. The situation has become so dire that for the past 26 days, he has been taking my name morning and evening but is unable to highlight a single accomplishment of his own,” Parvesh Verma said in his address.