Manoj Tiwari assails Kejriwal for not campaigning

Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Manoj Tiwari on Wednesday slammed Chief Minister and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal over his absence from campaigning in the national capital.

Speaking to media, the BJP candidate from the north east Delhi said: "Kejriwal is ready to campaign for the tukde-tukde gang, but by boycotting nomination of his party's candidates for the Lok Sabha elections he has admitted defeat."

Elaborating on reasons for his absence from the nomination process of the AAP candidates in Delhi, he said: "Due to announcement of strong candidates by the BJP, Kejriwal is demoralised and is contesting elections secretly in alliance with the Congress."

"The voters of Delhi very well know this," he said and added Kejriwal had only proved that by staying away from the nomination process.

Hitting out at the Delhi Chief Minister, Tiwari said: "Kejriwal has become enemy of voters of Delhi because he has not implemented about half a dozen welfare schemes of the central government."

"Even his Bijli Half-Pani Maaf claim has proved hollow and the people living in rural areas and unauthorised colonies are facing water shortage," he said.

The BJP, which won all the seven seats in the national capital in 2014, has replaced two MPs. While east Delhi MP Maheish Girri has been replaced with cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir, singer-turned-politician Hans Raj Hans has been nominated in place of Delhi North West MP Udit Raj.

A day after being denied ticket, Udit Raj switched to the Congress and accused the BJP of being anti-Dalit.

The BJP has fielded Union Minister Harsh Vardhan from Chandni Chowk, Pravesh Singh Verma from west Delhi, Ramesh Bidhuri from south Delhi and Meenakshi Lekhi from New Delhi parliamentary constituencies.

Voting in the national capital is scheduled on May 12.

The contest in the national capital has become interesting as alliance talks between the Congress and the AAP failed. Both the parties have announced candidates for all the seven seats.

--IANS

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