Free Power, Health Services: Arvind Kejriwal's Promise In Madhya Pradesh

Aam Aadmi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Monday opposed the concept of 'one nation, one election' and said instead the country needs 'one nation, one education, and one treatment' as he once again pledged a slew of guarantees for the people of Madhya Pradesh if the AAP was voted to power in the year-end polls.

The Delhi Chief Minister said the country needs frequent elections, even every month, as this allows political parties to go before electors regularly with promises which will not be the case if all voting takes place just once in five years.

He said what the country needs is 'one nation, one education (equal education for all) and 'one nation, one treatment' (rich or poor, equal treatment for all).

"Never allow them (BJP) to implement 'one nation, one election' system in the country as it is only during polls that political parties take care of people and promise them to give everything, even the moon if they ask for it. They talk to you very sweetly (during elections)," Mr Kejriwal said, addressing a public meeting at Rewa, the main town of Madhya Pradesh's Vindhya region.

The AAP leader said if all elections are held simultaneously, political leaders will go before voters just 6 months before polls.

"If this concept of one nation, one elections is implemented, then political leaders will roam around London, Paris, and other places abroad for four-and-a-half years and will come to you just before elections," he said.

The bureaucrat-turned-politician said the AAP, which is in power in Delhi and Punjab, believes elections should be held every month.

The Centre has set up an eight-member high-level committee to examine and make recommendations on the issue of holding simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha, state assemblies, municipalities, and panchayats children of rich as well as the poor should get the same quality of education and people should get the same type of "Raaz" (medical treatment) irrespective of their social status, he said.

Mr Kejriwal criticised the BJP for efforts to change the name of India to Bharat after opposition parties formed the INDIA alliance to take on the saffron party in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

"Tomorrow if we keep our name as Bharat, will they change it also?" he asked.

The AAP is part of the INDIA alliance, a bloc of more than two dozen parties formed to take on the saffron party in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

"They have started abusing INDIA....the BJP has gone insane. They only love power and for it, they can even sell the nation," Kejriwal said, adding, "But I love my India." The Delhi chief minister reiterated his party's guarantees for the people of Madhya Pradesh, including free and 24-hour power and waiving electricity bills pending till October 31 on the lines of what the AAP governments have done in the national capital and Punjab.

If voted to power, he promised to turn government schools in the BJP-ruled state into modern institutions to ensure every child gets quality education and where even rich people are able to send their children to study.

"In the next five years (if AAP is elected to power) we will turn all government schools into modern learning centers so that even those sending their children to private institutions are forced to send them to government schools," the Delhi CM said.

He also pledged to provide quality and free treatment to patients, medicines, diagnostic tests, and operations costing up to Rs 30 lakh-40 lakh in government hospitals by modernizing them on the lines of Delhi.

Citing a dialogue from the just-released film 'Jawan' starring superstar Shah Rukh Khan, Kejriwal said like the actor in the movie, people should also ask leaders when they come to seek their votes what they have done for them in the areas of education and health and appealed to electors not to vote in the name of religion or caste.

Mr Kejriwal promised to provide an allowance of Rs 3,000 per month to jobless youths till they get employment and added that all temporary or contractual government employees will be regularized, especially teachers.

The AAP leader assured the launch of 'Teerth Darshan Yojna' for senior citizens and said that in Delhi more than 75,000 such people have taken benefit of these pilgrimage tours which are totally free of cost.

He promised to provide Rs 1 crore financial aid to the family of security personnel, including those from the police force and the Army, who lay down their lives in the line of duty.

Referring to tribals, he said the PESA Act will be implemented for their welfare as they have right over forest produce, minerals, and land, and also promised adequate compensation to farmers for crop loss.

The Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act empowers gram sabhas (village assemblies) to manage the affairs as per local traditions and customs.

The rally was also addressed by Punjab Chief Minister and AAP leader Bhagwant Mann.

Mr Mann challenged the BJP to compare their 18 years of rule in MP with 18-month of AAP governance in Punjab, where he said, an investment worth Rs 50,000 crore has come which will provide jobs to 2.86 lakh people.

He said 36,000 people were given government jobs after the AAP assumed office in Punjab in March 2022 and during this period, the power bills of 90 per cent households came to zero.

Another 28,000 temporary government staffers were regularized in their jobs, while 12,710 temporary teachers were made permanent employees in the northern state, said Mann.

The Punjab Chief Minister slammed efforts to change the name of India to Bharat.

"If they change India's name, what name they will give to the Indian Army, IPL (Indian Premier League), SBI (State Bank of India), RBI (Reserve Bank of India), Skill India and Make In India... They have a problem with India just because the name of the opposition bloc is INDIA," Mr Mann added.

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