New Delhi, Feb 5 : After the BJP could not name its Chief Minister candidate despite Arvind Kejriwal's deadline, the Aam Aadmi Party chief on Wednesday invited Union Home Minister Amit Shah for a debate on issues concerning Delhi people.
Speaking to the media, Kejriwal said the BJP has no one to project as their CM face, "so I invite Amit Shah for open debate amongst the people of Delhi".
Kejriwal said the manifestos of both the BJP and AAP have been released, and the people want to have a discussion, ask questions and give opinions on the key promises of both the manifestos with the CM candidates of both parties.
"Yesterday, I challenged the BJP to declare their CM candidate for an open debate on the key issues of Delhi.
I am ready to debate on any issue, but the BJP has not declared its CM candidate, which clearly states that the BJP does not have a face for Delhi."
He said in a democracy, people have the right to decide their Chief Minister.
"I have been saying that every vote for the AAP will reach me. Along with voting for their respective constituency candidates, they are voting to make me the Chief Minister of Delhi.
But where will the votes for the BJP will go as there is no CM face? They are wasting people's votes by not declaring their face of the CM," he added.
Kejriwal said that Shah has indicated to the voters that they should vote for him following which he will decide who the CM of Delhi will be." And since Shah has been at the forefront, I would like to challenge him for a debate on any issue of his choice."
The Chief Minister said the people of Delhi have a lot of questions that need to be addressed.
"Issues like abrogation of Article 370 and Ram Mandir are national issues, people have already voted you in the Centre for these issues.
But what did the BJP do for Delhi? What did you do for the people of Delhi in the last five years? Why should the people of Delhi vote for you?"
Kejriwal said that the people of Delhi want to know, "Why are you against providing free amenities and services to them? Why are you doing dirty politics on the Shaheen Bagh issue? Why are you not clearing the roads at Shaheen Bagh? Your motive for coming to power in Delhi has become evident, which justifies your inability to do something about the road blockage at Shaheen Bagh.
People of Delhi want to know the reason behind inviting 200 MPs, 11 CMs and 70 Union Ministers to defeat a Chief Minister of a state.
Why did you invite so many people to defeat a mere common man?"
He went on and said the people of Delhi want to know, "how is Delhi's son Kejriwal a terrorist? Prakash JavadekarJi said they have proofs that make me a terrorist.
If you do, please bring forth the proofs and let people decide. People of Delhi want to know, what have you done in Delhi for the last 15 years with the authority of MCD with you? Why are there garbage dumps and landfills all across Delhi? What have you done for the improvement of MCD schools in Delhi? We have improved the Delhi government schools in our tenure of five years, how many schools have you improved in your tenure all across the nation?"
He said the people of Delhi want to know name of the candidates likely to be the CM face of the BJP.
"Is it Vijay GoelJi, Manoj TiwariJi, Hardeep Singh PuriJi, HarshvardhanJi, Smriti IraniJi? Who should the people of Delhi consider while voting?" he asked.
Challenging the Home Minister for an open debate, Kejriwal said open debate in a democracy is a positive thing, adding sending any random BJP worker for debate "will discern that you are running away from real issues".
--IANS
nks/rs/.
Source: IANS
