Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to NDTV in an exclusive interview
Taking a swipe at the 10 guarantees announced by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal, Union Home Minister Amit Shah told NDTV said a party that is contesting 22 seats has promised to waive power bills across the country.
"How many seats is AAP contesting? 22. You need over 270 to form the government. What guarantees are you giving? You are contesting 22 seats and you are saying you will waive power bills across the country" Mr Shah said in the exclusive interview, shortly after the AAP leader announced 10 'Kejriwal ki guarantees' at a press meet.
The 10 guarantees announced by AAP include 24X7 power supply, good education and health facilities and creation of two crore jobs every year. AAP has also promised to end the Agniveer scheme and to ensure that farmers get a Minimum Support Price for crops in line with the Swaminathan Commission's recommendations. "China has occupied our land and we will free it from their occupation," Mr Kejriwal said yesterday, listing full statehood for Delhi as another guarantee.
Mr Shah said the AAP leader "tried these stunts" in the last election too, but won just one seat.
On a question on the Opposition's allegations of the ruling BJP misusing central agencies, he said, "If Kejriwal is making such allegations, he defied summonses nine times. He kept dragging this and then started crying that he has been arrested during polls."
Mr Shah also said Mr Kejriwal has not been granted bail, but just an interim relief. "His plea was that his arrest was wrong. The Supreme Court did not accept that. Then he sought bail. The court did not accept that either. Then he asked for permission to campaign. The Supreme Court set some conditions and granted him leave till June 1. He has to return to Tihar (jail) on June 2. How is this a ruling in his favour?"
Asked if the AAP-Congress alliance in Delhi will hit the BJP's poll prospects, the Home Minister said, "The BJP got more than 50 per cent votes in every seat last time. So it does not matter how many people are coming together on the opposite side."
On the Delhi Chief Minister's claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will "retire" next year as he turns 75, Mr Shah said, "Don't take him so seriously. He does not want Modiji to stay in politics. But I want to tell you. Modiji will be PM till 2029 and even after that he will lead BJP's poll campaigns."
Countering the Opposition's allegations that the BJP plans to change the Constitution and remove caste-based reservation, he said, "Ever since (Congress leader) Rahul Gandhi has come in public life, he has made lying loudly the main Congress ideology. Modiji became Prime Minister twice with full majority. On both occasions, NDA had a two-third majority. If BJP wanted to change the Constitution and remove reservation, who could have stopped us?"
"We used our majority to remove Article 370, end triple talaq, to introduce a Uniform Civil Code, to build the Ram temple (in Ayodhya), to conduct surgical strike, to land Chandrayaan by giving scientists a free hand and to save 130 crore from the pandemic."
"We used it to provide 60 crore people toilet, cooking gas, home, drinking water, power supply, free ration and health costs up to 5 lakh. Rahul Gandhi wants to mislead the country. The people of the country know this. Either he is delusional or is spreading delusion," he said.