The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has entered the electoral battleground of Madhya Pradesh with a resolute commitment to empower the people of the state. AAP National Convenor & Delhi CM Shri Arvind Kejriwal, alongside Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Bhagwant Mann, addressed a massive Jansabha in Gwalior. At the event, they unveiled an ambitious plan to provide seven crucial services free of cost to the citizens of Madhya Pradesh upon winning the elections like Delhi.
CM Shri Arvind Kejriwal, renowned for his transformative governance, highlighted the remarkable achievements of the AAP government in the capital city, stating that he provides free education, healthcare, 24×7 electricity, water, pilgrimage for the elderly, bus travel for women, along with employment opportunities for the youth in Delhi. The AAP aims to replicate these achievements in Madhya Pradesh, ushering in a new era of progress and prosperity. Drawing attention to the contrasting realities between Delhi and Madhya Pradesh, he emphasised that today, when you talk of MP, the first thing that comes up is the Vyapam scam. But when you talk of Delhi, it is world-class schools, hospitals, and the availability of free electricity and water. The AAP’s vision for Madhya Pradesh focuses on providing essential services that have been the cornerstone of their success in Delhi.
Taking a dig at his political opponents, Shri Arvind Kejriwal quipped, threat Delhi-Punjab threw out BJP-Congress. If AAP gets a chance in Madhya Pradesh, people here will forget their ‘Mama’, he said. He reaffirmed his commitment to fulfilling the aspirations of the people, promising a government that genuinely works for their welfare and development. Responding to criticism from Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the provision of free services in Delhi, he asserted that PM Modi mocks the free services given to the people of Delhi as ‘free ki revdi.’ If I am giving ‘free ki revdi,’ why is PM Modi bothered?, he questioned. Further highlighting the need for responsible governance, he criticised the implementation of taxes on daily commodities by the central government.
AAP National Convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Shri Arvind Kejriwal hit out at the politicians of Madhya Pradesh for defaming the state. “Today when I was coming here, someone asked me where I was going and when I told him that I was on my way to Madhya Pradesh, he said, “it is the same place where the Vyapam Scam took place”. Look at what the politicians of this state have done to Madhya Pradesh. The people of Madhya Pradesh are hardworking citizens, but the politicians of the state have gone on to defame your state,” he said.
He continued, “There was a time when Delhi was also defamed by the politicians who ruled the state. When the Congress party governed Delhi, it was known as the city where the Commonwealth Games Scam had taken place. It was further also known as the land of CNG Scam and the 2G Scam during the time of the UPA government. But since the AAP-led state government has taken over Delhi, it has been known as the place where there are excellent schools and Mohalla Clinics. Today, Delhi is known across the country and the world because of its good quality education and healthcare. It is known as the land where the citizens get free electricity and that too 24 hours of electricity,” he said.
The Delhi CM said that the residents of MP that he interacted with were completely surprised when they found out that the people of Delhi get a zero electricity bill. “Some people from Madhya Pradesh came to me and said that the electricity in the state is very expensive. You would be surprised to know that in Delhi people get a zero electricity bill and they also get 24 hours of electricity. In Punjab, it has been a year since AAP formed the government and even there the residents now get a zero electricity bill, and there are no power cuts as well. Before the AAP formed the government in Delhi, there used to be 8-hour power cuts on a daily basis, but now there are no power cuts at all. A year ago, in Punjab there used to be 7-8 hour power cuts, but now there are no power cuts and at the same time people get free electricity. I have been informed by the people of Madhya Pradesh that they have 8-10 hour power cuts here, and they end up paying an electricity bill of Rs 2000 for only using 200 units of electricity. How is a common man in the state to live if he has to pay so much for electricity?” he asked.
Shri Arvind Kejriwal said that he is proud of providing “free ki revdi” to the citizens of Delhi and listed out the seven “free ki revdi” that his government has been providing to the residents in Delhi. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi is very angry with me and he goes around saying that Kejriwal is distributing ‘free revdis’ to the citizens in his state. The Prime Minister is a very big person and we are all much smaller individuals. But I want to tell him that yes I am distributing “free ki revdi” to my citizens but why is it bothering the PM of India? I want to tell the PM that in the hands of each individual in Delhi I have provided seven “free ki revdi”. The first one is that I have made electricity free in Delhi and I provided it for 24 hours to my citizens. The second is that I have built excellent schools across Delhi. Now the children of the rich and the poor families study together in these schools. The son of a judge, an IAS officer and a rickshaw-driver sit together and study in these schools. The third “free ki revdi” is that I have made healthcare free for citizens of all caste and gender,” he said.
He added, “The fourth one is that everyone in Delhi gets good quality water and the water bills for most households are free. The fifth is that bus rides for the women of Delhi is free in all types of public and private buses. The sixth “free ki revdi” is that I provide free teerth yatra to the elderly citizens in every family of Delhi. As part of the program we take them to Ayodhya, Dwarka, Shirdi, Puri, Rameswaram and other destinations across India. The seventh and the final “free ki revdi is that I am working hard to provide employment opportunities to the youth of Delhi. So far, our government in Delhi has provided 12 lakh jobs to the youth of Delhi. It has only been a year since AAP formed the government in Delhi, but Sardar Bhagwant Mann has already provided 30,000 jobs to the youth of the state. The state government in Punjab is in the process of providing 3 lakh jobs in the coming years. These are the seven “free ki revdi” that I provde to the people of Delhi.”
The Delhi CM hit out at the BJP-led Central Government for making the lives of the citizens of India so difficult. “I know that the Prime Minister of India is very angry with me. But his government has made life so difficult for every poor citizen of India with such high inflation. If I work hard to ease the lives of these people a little, what wrong am I doing? I was recently speaking to a person and he told me that it has become difficult to manage household expenses. He said that the salary has remained the same, but the cost of milk and all other grocery item has increased. When I asked him what has led to this high inflation, he said that the Gods have done it. Why would the Gods do such a thing?” he asked.
Shri Arvind Kejriwal said that the people had been forced to go through adversity by the PM just so that he could provide free loans to his “businessmen friends”. “All of this has happened not because of the Gods or any unknown factors, it has happened because of the loot of the Central Government. Modiji is openly letting his “businessmen friends” loot the citizens of the nation, and it is because of this that the innocent people of our country are being made to suffer. Recently, a friend of Modiji from Mumbai took a loan from the banks worth Rs 34,000 crore and the PM ensured that the loan did not have to be repaid. Similarly, another friend of Modiji from Gujarat took a loan worth Rs 22,000 crore and he also did not have to repay the loan. This is what the Prime Minister is doing for his friends. The resources of our country are being given for free. On the other hand, the people of the country are being taxed for everything to earn revenue. The PM has gone on to tax milk, buttermilk, paneer, atta, rice, etc. In our history it is claimed that the Britishers looted the people of India, but even they never taxed food items such as atta and rice. In the last 75 years, not once was a food item taxed, but this Modi Government has gone on to tax nearly everything that the common people eat in the country,” he said.
The AAP National Convenor said that it is unlikely that the Prime Minister of the country will be assisting his “businessmen friends” without getting anything in return. “In Madhya Pradesh, petrol costs Rs 108 per litre, out of which the actual cost of petrol is only Rs 57. The remaining amount is tax. This government has been looting the common people in the name of tax and distributing this money to its “businessmen friends”. I want to ask you one important question. If the Prime Minister has gone on to forego some businessman’s loan worth Rs 34,000 crore, do you really think that he would have done that for free? In today’s world, no one works for anyone for free, not even their own family and friends. So, certainly, the PM must have taken something from this person. It is being said that throughout the country loans worth Rs 11 lakh crore of business persons have been forgone by the government of India. Just imagine how much money would the PM have made from such people?” he asked.
Shri Arvind Kejriwal pointed out that the PM and his leaders indulge in corruption, but it is honest leaders such as Shri Manish Sisodia who is put behind bars. “It is Modiji who goes on to do corrupt acts, but the person who has been sent to jail by the Centre is Shri Manish Sisodia. Tell me what is the mistake that Manish Sisodia did? He is the son of a teacher himself and he dreamt about educating the poor children of Delhi. He built such excellent schools for the children of Delhi and would go and visit these schools at 6 am. Today, such a person is in jail, while those who openly indulge in corruption are roaming around freely,” he said.
The Delhi CM highlighted some poor policy decisions taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that an educated leader would certainly not take such decisions. “In the last 10 years, the BJP-led Centre has made a mess of our country. They went on to take some ghastly decision such as implementing demonetisation. Their rationale behind it was to end corruption. I want to ask the people gathered over here – has corruption been ended after demonetisation? They even claimed that it would bring an end to terrorism, but no such thing has happened. If we had an educated leader running the country, he would certainly not take such poor policy decisions,” he said.
He added, “I recently watched a TV interview of the Prime Minister. In it, the anchor asks him how much formal education the PM has received, to which he responds by saying that he has only studied in the “village school” and never gone to college. He has also repeated this same point in a public rally as well. Today I want to ask the people gathered over here, should the Prime Minister running the government of the 21st Century India not be adequately educated?”
Shri Arvind Kejriwal went on to narrate the story, “The 4th Pass King”, to the crowd gathered at Gwalior. “I want to narrate a story to you all today. The title of the story is “The 4th Pass King”. This story highlights the point that if the person running a kingdom is uneducated and corrupt, then even a great nation can be brought to tatters. Once upon a time, there was a very great kingdom in some part of the world. In that kingdom a boy was once born in a village to a mother who belonged to a very poor family. Just as the tradition was at the time, a fortune teller was called and he told the mother that her son would go on to become a king someday. She could not believe it as she was very poor and wondered how her son would go on to become a king one day. But the fortune-teller told her that the destiny of her son was such that he would become a king one day in the future,” he said.
The son grew up and went to school and since he was not very good at studies he somehow managed to study till Class 4 and then left the school. Shri Arvind Kejriwal said that the boy then started to sell chai at a railway station that was near his house. He continued, “The boy was good at giving speeches and would talk about everything under the sun. The people who came to the tea stall became his listeners. Once he started speaking, he just would not stop talking.”
The Delhi CM said that as the fortune teller had predicted the boy went on to become the king. But he was referred to by his public as the “4th Pass King”. He said that since the king was not educated, he would often be fooled by his own ministers. “The ministers would talk a lot in English and they knew that the king understood nothing, so they would get him to sign on any document. The king was also ashamed to ask questions to his officers, so he signed wherever the officers asked him to,” he said.
Continuing the story, Shri Arvind Kejriwal said that eventually the king began to feel bad as everyone referred to him as the “4th Pass King” and therefore he decided to get a fake university degree. He said that the king one day told his citizens that he has a degree in MA. He continued that one day some officers came to the king and told him that they have an excellent idea. They informed the king that if he implements this demonetisation scheme, then it will end corruption and terrorism. “The king did not understand much of what the officers said as he was a 4th Pass, but he thought that it would be a great idea because the officers had said so. So one day he appeared in front of the TV cameras at 8 pm and announced the demonetisation exercise. Because of this decision of the king, the citizens suffered. Every business was affected and neither did it end corruption nor terrorism. The great nation ended up going back 15-20 years in time because of this poor decision of the king,” he said.
He continued, “One day in his kingdom there was an outbreak of a major disease and eventually many people went on to die in it. One of the king’s officers told him to ask the citizens of his nation to come to their balconies and bang utensils against each other. The king did not have any understanding of things and he announced across the nation for this to be done. The people continued to die due to the lack of oxygen in his kingdom.”
Shri Arvind Kejriwal further continued, “Eventually the friends of the king continued to loot the kingdom and the king allowed someone to take Rs 10,000 crore and someone else to take Rs 20,000 crore. Throughout the kingdom the situation was so bad – the inflation was unbearable for the citizens to handle, and there was massive unemployment. Eventually, the kingdom started to disintegrate. The Gods sitting above were watching all of this happen and they all decided to go to Shivji Maharaj. They all asked him to do something about the situation on earth. Shivji Maharaj went on to meditate for the wellbeing of the citizens and he eventually brought this positive energy among each citizen in this kingdom and there was a fight for change. Eventually, the people revolted and brought another able leader to lead them.”
Shri Arvind Kejriwal concluded by saying that with time, a lot can change in politics and he urged the citizens of Madhya Pradesh to give AAP an opportunity in the state. “The way the people of Delhi threw away the BJP and the Congress, the way the citizens of Punjab threw away the BJP, Congress and the Akali Dal, similarly, I urge the people of MP to give AAP a chance,” he said.
Sardar Bhagwant Mann, said, “The achievements of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi resonated in Punjab, garnering tremendous support and love from the people. The people of Madhya Pradesh are now reaching out to us, demanding similar benefits such as access to free electricity, freedom from corruption, irrigation for farmers through rivers and canals, employment opportunities for youth, free bus travel for women, etc.”
He stated, “The people of Madhya Pradesh exercised their right to vote and elected the Congress government. However, despite the public’s mandate for the Congress government, the BJP took advantage of the situation by enticing 30 Congress MLAs to join their ranks, leading to the formation of their government. These MLAs neither consulted the public nor hesitated to resign after receiving large sums of money, ultimately enabling the BJP to establish its power through by-elections. Situations like these are why Shri Arvind Kejriwal asserts that various political parties are working in an unholy nexus with each other.”
Sardar Bhagwant Mann highlighted how PM Narendra Modi got AAP ministers like Shri Manish Sisodia and Shri Satyendar Jain imprisoned after hearing about AAP’s accomplishments, such as providing quality education to underprivileged children and free healthcare in Delhi. He continued, “But Aam Aadmi Party stands apart from the other political parties; we are built differently.” The Punjab CM remarked that governments often hand over public assets to private companies under the pretence of losses incurred by government entities. He criticised Prime Minister Modi for falsely claiming that national assets like airports, seaports, railways, BHEL, LIC, etc. are running at a loss. “Contrast this to the approach taken by the Punjab government, which took charge of a struggling private thermal power plant, and is successfully operating it now to generate electricity. This demonstrates a politics of action and tangible results.”
Explaining the impact of AAP on politics, Sardar Bhagwant Mann said, “Former leaders, who previously conducted campaigns from the comfort of helicopters, are now compelled to go door-to-door seeking votes. Notably, in Punjab, young men and women have emerged victorious in elections. This challenged the long-held notion of invincibility among certain politicians, as evidenced by the forfeiture of their bail. The power lies with the public, as they can elevate individuals to positions of authority or bring them down. The people of Madhya Pradesh must also dismantle the BJP’s arrogance and assert their power. I urge the people of Madhya Pradesh to confront and dismantle the arrogance exhibited by the BJP. When PM Modi walks, he projects a sense of entitlement and superiority. But ultimately, the destiny of the 1.4 billion citizens of India will be determined by their own collective will.”
