‘I don’t want to be the Prime Minister’, he states but his assertive messaging speaks otherwise
By announcing 10 guarantees for the country, which he presented as a vision for new India, without which a country cannot become powerful, and pitching “Kejriwal ki Guarantee” against “Modi ki Guarantee”, Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal has let it be known in no uncertain terms that he is a contender to replace Narendra Modi as Prime Minister should the INDIA bloc outperform the BJP led NDA alliance in the Lok Sabha elections and storm to power.
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Announcing these poll promises in the form of guarantees, including 200 units of free and uninterrupted power supply across the country, free education and full statehood for Delhi, in a press conference at the party’s headquarters in New Delhi on Sunday, though Kejriwal clarified that “I don’t want to be Prime Minister,” he at the same time asserted that “it is my guarantee that when the INDIA Alliance forms the government I will ensure that these promises are fulfilled.”
However, in his assertions the intent was more than clear. “BJP has always failed on its promises. My guarantees have a proven track record. Now, people have to take a call whether to go for ‘Kejriwal ki Guarantee’ or ‘Modi ki Guarantee”.
In response to a query, Kejriwal gave further vent to his assertiveness on the issue when he said, “I have not discussed these (guarantees) with my INDIA bloc colleagues. But I’m sure no INDIA bloc leader will have any problem with these.”
The question is, with the INDIA alliance partners failing to agree to a common minimum programme before the polls, and each of its major constituent parties showcasing their own set of poll promises and guarantees, what should the electorate expect from the alliance to convince itself to vote out the BJP led NDA.
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The 10 guarantees
• 24-hour electricity supply with the first 200 units of power free across the country
• Promise of making arrangements for free education for all and making government schools better than private schools
• Infrastructue and facility build up at government hospitals at par with private hospitals
• India’s land to be freed from China, Army to be given a free hand
• Agniveer scheme launched by the Narendra Modi government to be scrapped
• Farmers to get guarantee of Minimum Support Price for their crops
• Full statehood to be ensured for Delhi
• Plans to create two crore jobs every year
• Promise to get rid of the policy of giving safe heavens to corrupt people, free the country from corruption
• Plans to simplify Goods and Services Tax (GST), eye on surpassing the trade capacity of China
