Haridwar: With less than a week left for Uttarakhand assembly elections to kickoff, political parties are actively trying to woo the voters with tall promises. While BJP and Congress have their own battles to fight, it is the Aam Aadmi Party that might throw some surprises in its bid to scale the holy hills. The party has fielded candidates in all the 70 assembly seats of the state.
In an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat's Bureau Chief Kirankant Sharma, Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal and the party's CM face for the state, retired Colonel Ajay Kothiyal, spoke about how the party planned to make inroads in the state.
Q: After coming to Uttarakhand, you announced free electricity and water like Delhi, how is it possible?
Kejriwal: People in Delhi gave us a chance and we made sure we fulfilled our responsibility. Because of the work we have done, people made us win 67 seats, and the second time as well, we got a clear mandate. In Delhi, apart from giving free electricity and water connections, AAP has given many basic facilities to the public. The people of Uttarakhand also need similar basic facilities like electricity, water, good hospitals, education, and employment for youths. We are here to tell people that if they will give us the opportunity in Uttrakhand as well, we will do similar works here too.
Q: Aam Aadmi Party has promised one lakh jobs in 6 months in Uttarakhand. How will this be possible?
Kejriwal: We will not give 6 lakh jobs in 4 months but it will be done during our five-year tenure. It's an ongoing process. We had talked about one lakh jobs, out of which a lot of seats are vacant in the government sector. We will first try to fill those. We can operate Mohalla Clinics in a better way, we will build hospitals, roads, schools and it's obvious that when these developmental works will be done then employment will be automatically generated. I do not understand how in 22 years the governments of Uttarakhand has a debt of 72 thousand crore rupees. Whereas they had not done any new work in 21 years, it's all clear that the money went to politicians' pockets.
Each leader owns hundreds of properties not just in India but in foreign countries as well. They have money in Swiss banks. We will stop this loot as soon as our government comes into power. The state has no shortage of money. From tourism to pilgrimage sites, the state has all the sources of income. The government can get an adequate amount of revenue and there is no need to take any loans.
Q: You are accusing the politicians. AAP is also a political party. If leaders of other parties want to join you, would you welcome them?
Kejriwal: Leaders of many parties wanted to join the Aam Aadmi Party and there were some big names as well but we did not allow them as they had a history of corrupt practices tagged with them. We don't want such people in our party but I don't say every leader or a political party is bad. If we feel that a person is good and has not indulged in corruption then we will welcome such people.
Q: You do not have a direct competition with anyone on any seat from Kumaon to Garhwal. We have seen the situation on the ground. Despite that, how do you propose to win the polls?
Kejriwal: Look, I do not believe in these things because even when we were contesting elections in Delhi, all the surveys and all the agencies were telling us that the Aam Aadmi Party would get only 6 to 7 per cent votes but the AAP formed the government in Delhi and that too with an absolute majority. People even said that Kejriwal would not be able to save his bail, now the result is in front of you.
Q: You came to Uttarakhand with issues like school, hospital, mohalla clinic then suddenly you announced to make Uttarakhand the spiritual capital. This is what other parties are doing as well, so what is the difference between you and them?
Kejriwal: Spirituality is very important for everyone whether the person is big or small but, no one should make people fight in the name of Hindu-Muslim and our party does not do this. We are sending people to temples, mosques, and gurudwaras in Delhi. This is the difference between the Aam Aadmi Party and other parties. Other parties are doing politics of hate. They want Hindus and Muslims to fight but we are doing politics of love and affection and if faith is added to it then what is wrong with it?
We have made it clear that if our government comes to power, then we will make people visit temples like Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, Yamunotri, Rishikesh, Ujjain, Kashi, and Ram Mandir. The most important thing is that the state holds various religious faiths within itself and a plethora of natural beauty.
Q: Uttarakhand has no permanent capital yet. What do you have to say to this?
Colonel Ajay Kothiyal: The first important issue here was the capital but now no one wants to talk about it now. After the movement, when Uttarakhand came into existence, Gairsain was chosen for the capital, but no party paid attention to it. If the previous governments had paid attention to it, today Gairsain and the nearby areas would have been developed, but no one had shown any intention to climb the mountains. As soon as the Aam Aadmi Party comes to power, the first task will be to provide basic facilities to its people and give Uttarakhand its own capital.
Q: A question for both of you. People have seen Colonel Kothiyal working in Kedarnath. People have seen him in the army, then why did you suddenly enter politics?
Kejriwal (smiling): I will answer this question first. We have included leaders in our party who have the spirit of patriotism and Kothiyal is one of them. There are bullets inside Kothiyal's body, he loves mountains and the people who live there and he is very honest as well, that's why we betted on him. The best thing is that even after retirement, he did not give up his work, formed a youth foundation in the mountains, and enrolled thousands of youths into the Indian Army. How can we not give place to such a person in our party?
Colonel Ajay Kothiyal: I chose Aam Aadmi Party because this party is very different from BJP and Congress. I also chose this party because a face like Arvind Kejriwal is associated with it. I appeal to the public that every person should come with Aam Aadmi Party to defeat Congress and BJP.
