Delhi assembly elections 2025: AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal unveils 7-point 'manifesto' for middle-class

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AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday announced a seven-point "manifesto" for the nation's middle class, saying that they have been neglected by successive governments and are a victim of "tax terrorism", PTI reported.

In a video message on Wednesday, he claimed that the middle class is the real superpower of the Indian economy but has long been ignored and exploited solely for tax collection.

Kejriwal announced the seven-point charter aimed to address the concerns of the middle class, PTI cited.

As per PTI, the demands included raising the education budget from the current 2 per cent to 10 per cent and setting a limit on private school fees. He also proposed subsidies and scholarships for higher education to make quality education accessible to all.

The AAP leader highlighted the need for an increase in healthcare spending, suggesting a rise to 10 per cent of the GDP, along with the removal of taxes on health insurance premiums.

He also called for an increase in the income tax exemption limit from Rs 7 lakh to Rs 10 lakh, citing the heavy financial burden on the middle class, PTI cited.

According to PTI, another demand was the removal of GST on essential goods, which Kejriwal argued disproportionately affects middle-class households. He also advocated for more strong retirement plans, including free healthcare for senior citizens in both private and government hospitals.

Additionally, he requested the union government to reintroduce the 50 per cent concession on train fares for senior citizens, which was discontinued in recent years.

Kejriwal accused the political parties of reducing the middle class to what he termed as a "slave mindset" since independence. He pledged that AAP MPs would raise the concerns of the middle class in upcoming parliamentary sessions, vowing to make their issues a central focus of the political discussions, PTI reported.

The announcement comes just weeks before the Delhi Assembly elections 2025 set to take place on February 5, with vote counting results to be declared on February 8.

The Aam Aadmi Party, which won 62 of the 70 assembly seats in 2020 Delhi elections, is seeking a third consecutive term.

SC seeks response from BJP leader on Atishi, Arvind Kejriwal plea

The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted six weeks to a Delhi BJP leader to respond to a petition of Delhi CM Atishi and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal against an order that refused to quash a defamation case against them over their alleged remarks on deletion of the voters' names.

A bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and S V N Bhatti adjourned the hearing after the counsel for complainant Rajiv Babbar sought more time to file his response. On September 30, last year, the apex court while issuing notice to Babbar stayed the proceedings before the trial court.

Babbar said he did not file the complaint in an individual capacity but as the authorised representative of the BJP, a political party, while bringing on record a January 16, 2019 authorisation letter in support of his claim. Previously, senior advocate Sonia Mathur, representing Babbar, submitted the alleged statements were defamatory in nature as they lowered the party's credibility amongst voters.

(With inputs from Agencies)