"Attack On Poor Who Ride Bicycles": Arvind Kejriwal On PM Modi's Bomb Dig

AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal on Monday termed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks equating 'bicycle' with 'terrorism' as an attack on the poor, and indicated that his party will go with the anti-BJP camp in case of a hung assembly in Uttar Pradesh.

Addressing his first election rally in capital Lucknow after the assembly poll process began in Uttar Pradesh, Kejriwal said, "Yesterday, I heard the prime minister came (to the state) and said all those who rode cycles in the country were terrorists. This is a 'chhot' (attack) on all the poor who ride bicycles".

Days after a court convicted 49 people for the Ahmedabad serial blasts, Modi had on Sunday said that he had vowed to punish the perpetrators even if they took refuge in hell, and accused the Samajwadi Party (SP) of being sympathetic to such terrorists.

He had also said that he wondered why the terrorists had opted for 'bicycle', the SP's election symbol, to plant bombs in the initial blasts in Ahmedabad.

The prime minister is calling all the poor 'terrorists', Kejriwal, who is Delhi's chief minister, said.

"All those who ride cycles, when you press the button to vote, tell them whether those riding bicycles or BJP men are terrorists," he said.

Polls to the 403-member Uttar Pradesh assembly is being held in seven phases and three have been completed. The fourth phase of the election, which began on February 10, will be held on the 23rd of this month.

After voting for the assembly elections in Punjab ended on Sunday, Kejriwal, whose party is the main opposition in that state, jumped into the polls in politically crucial Uttar Pradesh, where the AAP is fighting on all seats on its own.

The results of the Uttar Pradesh polls, will be announced along with those of Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur on March 10.

Indicating support to the anti-BJP camp in the event of a hung assembly in Uttar Pradesh, he said, "A man came to me and said Kejriwal ji, you are making big promises in this election, but will you win? I replied that all the surveys are saying that any particular party may not get the majority this time." "If we get the opportunity to form government or any anti-BJP camp forms it, I will get all my promises fulfilled by whoever forms the government," he said.

Targeting his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanath, Kejriwal said at a rally in Barabanki that "the Uttar Pradesh government had presented a budget of Rs 5 lakh crore. But during the last five years, the Yogi government has neither opened a university nor a hospital in the state." "Then where this did Rs 5 lakh crore go. There is no shortage of money, there is a lack of determination," he said.

Kejriwal also accused Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra of calling him a terrorist.

Despite ruling the country for 70 years, these parties do not have a single concrete work to talk about and that is why, they are calling Kejriwal a terrorist, he said.

"Tell me, if any terrorist has built schools or hospitals in the world? Does any terrorist arrange pilgrimages for elders?" Kejriwal asked.

He said, "In the past seven years Modi got his house and office raided by the CBI, Enforcement Directorate, RAW and Delhi Police, but got nothing." "When I asked what was found at my house, I was told nothing. When I asked why the raids were conducted then, I was told that some poet lives in Ghaziabad who said I am a terrorist. I came in his dream and told him seven years ago that I would divide India in two parts and become the prime minister of one," Kejriwal said.

Kejriwal has been under attack from both the Congress and the BJP who have questioned him over former AAP leader and poet Kumar Vishwas's accusations of he supporting separatists in Punjab.

In a video, Vishwas also claimed that Kejriwal had spoken about becoming prime minister of a separate state.

Kejriwal said, "I said prime minister, where will I break India into two parts?' Your ED, RAW or CBI did not get to know. You should shut down all these agencies and keep that poet." He said some people have made a mockery of the country's security.

They call anyone a terrorist, and in the past, when farmers were protesting, they said farmers are terrorists, Kejriwal said, adding, "I want to tell farmers of UP that this time when you go to vote, show them who is terrorist".

Referring to opening of smart schools, mohalla clinics and other facilities in Delhi, Kejriwal said, "Terrorists are of two types. One who scares the public, and the other, who scares the corrupt. Kejriwal is the terrorist who scares the corrupt." In a lighter vein, referring to a dialogue from the movie Sholay, he said that "when someone commits corruption 100 miles away, a mother says just sleep, otherwise Kejriwal will come".

Calling himself a disciple of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, the AAP leader said, "The British used to call Bhagat Singh a terrorist. Today, all these corrupt people cannot sleep peacefully due to the work done by Kejriwal. These corrupt people are calling me a terrorist." He claimed that "every Delhiite is happy with the work of the AAP government and if it is not so, then do not vote for me in the UP polls".

"Both the BJP and the Congress have been wiped out from Delhi. If given a chance, all other parties will be wiped out from here too," he added.

Kejriwal began his four-day Uttar Pradesh tour from Monday to drum up support for AAP candidates.

He will also be visiting Prayagraj and Gorakhpur during his visit and join various election-related programmes. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)