AAP Belongs To Dalits, Poor, Oppressed: Arvind Kejriwal

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) belongs to Dalits and all those who have no one to fall back upon, party convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said at an event on Saturday.

Inaugurating the premises of the Rashtriya Shoshit Parishad at Tughlaqabad Institutional Area, he alleged it was a "conspiracy" of political parties to deprive the financially weak of education in the last 70 years so that the Dalits remain poor and the rich become richer.

"In the last six years, we have brought about a revolution in the education sector in Delhi. We have worked to fulfil the dream of Baba Saheb Ambedkar who always said that education is the key for the Dalit community to equate with the rest of society," the Chief Minister said.

Political parties seek votes from the poor and downtrodden during the elections but serve the interests of the rich after coming to power, he alleged.

"I consider myself fortunate that the Dalit community is with me. The Dalit community has accepted the Aam Aadmi Party. It is your party, it is the party of Dalits, the poor, the oppressed, and it is a party of those who have nobody else."

Mr Kejriwal detailed various schemes launched by his government to help the poor and the needy in Delhi, including ''Jai Bheem'' coaching scheme for those preparing for competitive exams, and hiring sewer cleaning machines operated by sanitation workers.

"We have launched a scheme -- Jai Bheem Mukhyamantri Pratibha Vikas Yojana -- to financially support Dalit students who want to take coaching for competitive examinations such as IAS, IPS, engineering and medical entrances at any private coaching institute," he said.

The chief minister said the Delhi Jal Board has started a scheme under which 200 sanitation workers operate sewer cleaning machines that are hired by the government.