New Delhi: AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday accused the BJP of disregarding the legacy of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh and social reformer Bhimrao Ambedkar.
The former Delhi chief minister also said “today’s rulers are worse than the British”, taking a dig at the ruling BJP.
Kejriwal was speaking at the AAP’s ‘Ek Shaam Shaheedon Ke Naam’ event here, his first public appearance in Delhi after losing the Assembly polls in the national Capital.
He said his party entered politics to fulfil the dreams of Bhagat Singh and Ambedkar, and not for power.
Senior AAP leader Gopal Rai likened his party’s recent electoral loss in Delhi to the way Abhimanyu was trapped and deceived in the “Chakravyuh” (maze) in the Mahabharata. He asserted that just as Abhimanyu fought valiantly, the AAP too would rise again with greater strength. The event was organised at the AAP headquarters to pay tributes to freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev to commemorate Shaheedi Diwas.
Senior AAP leaders, including Manish Sisodia, MP Sanjay Singh, Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Atishi, party’s Delhi unit chief Saurabh Bharadwaj, Gopal Rai, MLAs, councillors, and other party workers attended the event.
Addressing the event, Kejriwal said, “Our role models are Babasaheb Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh. Bhagat Singh used to say that merely removing the British was not enough, the structure of society had to change. Otherwise, brown rulers would replace the British.”
“This is exactly what has happened and today’s rulers are worse than the British,” Kejriwal added. Within 48 hours of assuming power in Delhi, the BJP removed portraits of Bhagat Singh and Ambedkar from government offices, the AAP supremo claimed, adding that while the Congress had earlier condemned the installation of their portraits, it remained silent when the BJP removed them. “I want to ask them if there is anyone who has sacrificed more for the country than Bhagat Singh,” he said.
Kejriwal said even during the British rule, Bhagat Singh was allowed to write letters from jail, recounting how, when he (Kejriwal) wrote a letter to the lieutenant governor while in prison, he was issued a show-cause notice. Criticising the BJP government for allegedly restricting the free bus ride scheme for women in Delhi, Kejriwal said conductors are now denying free pink tickets to women unless they download an app. “Why are they doing this? Instead of improving facilities, they are withdrawing the existing ones. By now, they should have started giving Rs 2,500 to women, but they have not,” he said, accusing the BJP of failing to fulfil its poll promises.