NEW DELHI, Jan 21: Virtually positioning himself as the third challenger for the CM’s post, Congress leader Ajay Maken, who filed his nomination from Sadar Bazar seat, today attacked Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi, accusing them of using Anna Hazare to fulfil their political ambitions.
Maken, who is the Congress campaign committee chief, also said that AAP and BJP are two sides of the same coin as anti-Congressism “is their thought”.
Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi, who have been named as the CM candidate by Aam Aadmi Party and BJP respectively, could align any time in future, he claimed.
“Both of them used to wave flags standing beside Anna Hazare, they got into politics by climbing on his shoulder. The Ps and Ss about which Bedi has been talking about these days does not include corruption, does corruption become a non-issue as soon as she got into BJP,” he said.
“When both of them were harbouring their political ambitions, running a movement, I was preparing to send Suresh Kalmadi to jail as a sports minister,” Maken told reporters after inaugurating his election office near Shastri Nagar metro station.
He then carried out a road show travelling in an open jeep along with hundreds of supporters that crisscrossed Sadar Bazar constituency. He reached the office of Assistant Returning Officer at Vikas Bhawan around 2 PM where he filed his nomination.
Maken also challenged Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi for a debate on every issue pertaining to Delhi including electricity, water and corruption and said that if Bedi refuses to join it, he and the AAP chief can go ahead with it keeping her seat vacant.
“Yesterday Kejriwal had tweeted challenging me and Kiran Bedi to debate. I accepted the challenge but Kiran Bedi turned it down. Kiran Bedi does not want to answer, she only wants to say what she has to say. She can’t run Delhi if she can’t debate. Even if Kiran Bedi doesn’t want to debate I challenge Kejriwal for debate at any place and at any channel. If Kiran Bedi won’t come then we will leave her chair vacant,” he said.
The leader said that his party would want to bring down prices of electricity but not like Kejriwal by giving subsidies.
“I will also ask power companies that the profit they had earned by decreasing electricity theft why it was not passed on to the consumer by reducing tariffs. This work will be done by Ajay Maken. 55 per cent water of Delhi gets wasted through leakage,” he said.
“The money which has been saved by reducing power theft will be used in betterment of water supplies. We have vision for Delhi and we are trusted,” he added.
Highlighting the achievements of the prior government he said, “If Delhi is so advanced today, it is just because of our government’s efforts.
Today is the last day for filing nomination for the Delhi polls which is scheduled on Feb 7. The results of the assembly polls will be released on Feb 10. (PTI)
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