AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal started his five-day visit to Punjab on Thursday to boost the political prospects of the Aam Aadmi Party.
Kejriwal, who arrived here on a regular flight from Delhi, drove immediately to Sangrur town in Punjab. He was received here by top AAP leaders of the Punjab unit and some party leaders from Delhi.
"I am starting my five-day trip of Punjab today. I will be visiting villages and meeting with common people," Kejriwal told the media after landing here.
"We will meet families affected by the drugs problem. We will try to understand their problems. We will meet families of farmers who committed suicide and understand their problems too. The AAP philosophy is that we meet people, listen to their problems and find solutions," he said.
"Other parties make their manifestoes in air-conditioned rooms. We go to villages and homes of people," Kejriwal said while taking a dig at other political parties.
Kejriwal will travel to Punjab's three regions - Malwa, Majha and Doaba, during the visit, starting from Sangrur and Bathinda districts in the agriculturally-fertile south-west Punjab.
Kejriwal will visit Ferozepur and Faridkot districts on February 26, Khadoor Sahib, Gurdaspur and Amritsar districts on February 27, Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar districts on February 28 and finally go to Ludhiana, Fategarh Sahib and Patiala districts on February 29.
"He will interact with various sections of the society comprising families of distressed farmers who have been committing suicides, members of Dalit families and unemployed educated youth and know the concerns of the women folk about their safety and security," an AAP spokesman said.
He will meet the business community, comprising traders and captains of industry, to know the problems faced by them in the state.
The Congress in Punjab had earlier said that it will oppose Kejriwal's visit if the Aam Aadmi Party does not change its agenda for the state.
"Kejriwal should not play with fire by instigating the sentiments of the people of Punjab. This is a very dangerous style of politics being done by the AAP," Congress leader and Ludhiana MP Ravnit Singh Bittu had said.
Kejriwal had addressed a major AAP rally last month at the Maghi religious fair in Punjab's Bathinda district.
The AAP is posing a serious political challenge to the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP alliance and the Congress, which have dominated Punjab's political space for decades, in the run up to next year's assembly polls.
KEJRIWAL TEARS INTO SUKHBIR BADAL'S CLAIMS ON DEVELOPMENT
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday tore into the claims of Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on development, saying that it was "shocking" that even drinking water was not availabile in many parts.
"It is really shocking that the basic amenity of life, availability of drinking water, is missing in the state," Kejriwal said as he arrived in Teja Rehula village of Punjab's Fazilka district on Friday.
An Aam Aadmi spokesman said that Kejriwal, who is the party's national convener, came to this village for a reality check of the state government's claim of "development", he found that several villages are still deprived of the safe drinking water and as a result, most of the families of the area were affected by the water-borne deceases.
Kejriwal, who arrived in Punjab on Thursday, is on a five-day political visit to the state ahead of the February 2017 assembly polls.
"At Teja Ruhela village, which coincidently falls under state Health Minister Surjit Jiyani ('s constituency), mothers were crying, not for flyovers, roads or any other development, but for drinking water as no state government so far, be it of SAD-BJP or Congress, ever gave any heed to their cry," the AAP spokesman said, adding that some children in the village had turned blind due to contaminated water.
Villagers told the AAP leaders that instead of ensuring safe drinking water for residents, government agencies had only put up warnings that the water was contaminated.
The village is located close to the India-Pakistan border.
"If a state government fails to provide even drinking water to people, it has no moral right to continue in power," Kejriwal said.
"I assure you, once AAP is voted to power, within one month, we will ensure safe drinking water in all these villages," he said.
"I have not seen such a bad situation in my entire life. Is this the development that Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal claims of?" said Kejriwal, who on Thursday had taken on the Punjab government for rising farmer suicides in the progressive agrarian state.
DELHI POLICE ALERTS PUNJAB OVER LIFE THREAT TO KEJRIWAL
The Delhi Police on Friday said that it has alerted its Punjab counterparts over a life threat to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is currently visiting Punjab.
The complaint over the issue was registered at IP Estate police station on February 20, a police official said.
"We received complaint from the CM's office. The complaint has been registered," Deputy Commissioner of Police, Central, Parmaditya told IANS.
On being asked further about the complaint, he said: "We cannot comment due to security reasons."
Kejriwal, who arrived in Punjab on Thursday, is on a five-day political visit to the state ahead of the February 2017 assembly polls.
