India General Elections 2024: ‘If you had asked sweetly, voters would have given you one seat’

Kejriwal addresses the crowd from his SUV during a road show in Bathinda

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann, the chief ministers of Delhi and Punjab respectively, are vigorously campaigning across all constituencies in the latter state to secure the 13 Lok Sabha seats that go to the polls on June 1. They are conducting road shows and public meetings, drawing substantial crowds.

Posters depicting Kejriwal behind bars have been placed throughout the constituencies, emphasising the actions taken against him by the Central government. These events are intended to rally support against the BJP, which they accuse of withholding funds for Punjab and harassing protesting farmers. Both leaders deliver speeches from SUVs, urging voters to stand against the saffron party.

Kejriwal has carried out road shows in Bathinda and Hoshiarpur and attended public meetings in Amritsar and Firozpur. Meanwhile, Mann has been a part of similar events in nearly all constituencies, including Faridkot, Bathinda, Patiala, Amritsar, Sangrur, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and other areas. Their efforts aim to galvanise support and secure victories in the upcoming election.

AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann at the press conference on Monday

Road show

During a road show in Bathinda, Kejriwal addressed the crowd from his SUV, saying, "Two years, before you brought the AAP to the Punjab Assembly where out of the 117 seats, around 92 were won by us. "We have given free electricity to Delhi and Punjab and opened mohalla clinics that provide free treatment. In the past two years, we have provided 50,000 jobs to youngsters. The state government seen by the Punjab public in the past two years is unlike anything that had come before. Give us 13 seats, and we will get all the work done by the Central government. When farmers went to Delhi to protest two years ago they were stopped by putting nails on the road. Is Delhi owned by their father? Delhi belongs to everyone. Press the button this time to get rid of [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi. Your 8,500-crore population [of Punjab] are being hindered by the Central government. Funds that were for building roads and mohalla clinic are being blocked by the Modi government, which is dictatorial. If you give us 13 seats, we will get into their houses and get back your money," said Kejriwal.

Press conference

On Monday, Kejriwal and Mann held a press conference to speak out against Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who visited Ludhiana to campaign on Sunday. Mann said, "Instead of asking for votes, Shah threatened Punjabis in Punjab. He said that after June 4, the Bhagwant Mann government would splinter and he will not be the CM. This is a general election, so why he is threatening the elected state government? First of all, they are buying MLAs and putting them behind bars. Punjabis have made huge sacrifices for the country and here he is threatening them. If you ask us to do anything with love, we are ready to comply. But if you threaten a Punjabi, the results will be far from expected.

Farmers who had been protesting had sat for more than a year and later they had to apologise. We have 92 seats and the man who is talking about breaking the government has only three seats in the Assembly. Now, they will not even get three seats. We won the Assembly poll by a huge margin so how can you break us? BJP will score zero this time in Punjab. They had put Kejriwal in jail and broke the Shiv Sena and NCP in Maharashtra. Since yesterday, I've been getting calls asking how can Amit Shah say he will destroy the state government. Will you bring governor's rule? What will you do?" The Punjab CM added, "Earlier he [Modi] called himself a chowkidar and now he says he's God."

At the press conference, Kejriwal also slammed Shah, saying, "No other home minister has made such comments and indulged in such gundagardi after going to a state. He openly made threats and challenged Punjabis and Punjab. The citizens of the state are infuriated by Shah's speech." He added, "The people want to ask Amit Shah how he will destroy the state government and what are your plans to destroy the party, which has 92 MLAs. Will you send the ED and CBI to threaten Punjabi citizens or will you buy the Punjab people?

What price do you put on Punjabi citizens? How much money do you have? Will governor's rule emerge in Punjab? Tell us all what is the plan. Will you [voters] accept this type of gundagardi? Punjabis have a big heart. If you had asked sweetly, they would have given you one seat. But if such threats are made and the going will be difficult for you, Amit Shah," added Kejriwal.

He added that the BJP's only aim was to stop Punjab's citizens from getting free electricity. "The same threats were made against me in Delhi. If you want to continue getting free electricity, give 13 seats to AAP. What the BJP will do in future can't be imagined. Give us 13 seats so that we can fight for your rights. Modi and Shah detest the people of Punjab. Around 700 farmers lost their lives because of them during the protest last year," Kejriwal said.

The Delhi chief minister said, "Soon after our party came to power in Punjab, they blocked funds amounting to almost Rs 9,000 crore. I say to Amit Shah: first form the government on June 4 and later decided about destroying the state. People will vote and show them their face in the election." Kejriwal added that the video of Shah's speech had already gone viral and Punjab citizens were angry.

Kejriwal said if was wrong to resort to threats and abuse to gain votes. "They should seek votes based on the work they have done instead. In two years, we are showcasing our work. But in the past 10 years, they don't have anything to say about their work. In the past 50 years, people have not seen such a prime minister and home minister," added Kejriwal.