DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday asked people to give the AAP a chance at the assembly elections in Haryana, saying voting for the Congress, BJP and INLD has not improved anything in the state.

Mann cited the programmes of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) governments in Punjab and Delhi and highlighted that party national convener Arvind Kejriwal was born in the state, as he made a pitch to voters for the Haryana Assembly polls due later this year.

The AAP has already announced that it will contest all 90 seats in the state, claiming that people want a change in the government. Though the AAP has contested several polls in Haryana, it is yet to taste electoral success in the state.

Addressing a gathering here, Mann said, "Haryana gave a chance to the Congress, BJP and INLD. But nothing has improved."

In Punjab, he said, people gave the AAP 92 out of 117 seats in the 2022 assembly polls, and in the two-and-a-half years since, his government has given over 43,000 jobs to the state's youth.

Mann said while the leaders of other parties "are either in jail or are preparing to go to jail", the AAP government, instead was keeping an account of every penny that was "looted" by opposition parties and arrests are being made in corruption cases.

The chief minister highlighted the free electricity scheme (for up to a certain units per month) under the AAP government in Punjab and Delhi, and said that 90 per cent households in his state are getting zero electricity bill.

His government set up 847 'Aam Aadmi Clinics' in Punjab and around 1.70 crore people have received free medical treatment at these clinics, Mann said.

He also spoke of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's Haryana connection, saying he was born in Siwani.

After completing his studies, he became an officer, left his job to serve the people, formed the AAP and was elected as the Chief Minister of Delhi thrice, Mann said.

Terming him "Haryana ka laal" (son of Haryana), Mann said the AAP leader only did "politics of work".

"Does any party come and talk to you and say it will build schools, hospitals and make electricity free? No party says that it will provide door-step delivery of ration," he said.

The Punjab CM also targeted the BJP, the ruling party in the state, saying it was working to divide the country while the AAP's aim was to unite the country.

Meanwhile, the Delhi CM's wife Sunita Kejriwal, addressing a rally in Sohna in Gurugram, also urged people to vote for the AAP.

"Your (Arvind) Kejriwal, Haryana's son, has done a lot of work. Is there any party that has improved the condition of government schools, opened 'mohalla clinics', improved the condition of hospitals and made electricity free? Such work can only be done by one person in the country -- your son, Kejriwal," she said.

"That is why (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi ji is jealous of Kejriwal as he cannot do all these things. To stop his work, he created a fake case against him and put your son in jail," said Sunita.

She also accused Haryana's BJP government of doing nothing for the development of the state. "There is a sports stadium in Sohna but without any facilities. There is no coach. What is the point in having such a stadium," Sunita asked those gathered at her rally.
(editor@dailyworld.in)