Raipur: Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday announced a list of “guarantees” for the Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh ahead of the upcoming state elections and said that unlike others, his assurances were not empty promises made in a “fake manifesto”. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann during a public meeting, in Raipur on Saturday. (PTI)

Addressing a convention of party workers in Raipur along with Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann, Kejriwal said they didn’t enter politics to make money but to bring holistic development.

“Today I am giving you ten guarantees, which are not like a fake manifesto or ‘sankalp patra’. Kejriwal will die (if it comes to it) but fulfil these promises,” he said, and released a ‘guarantee card’ with details of nine promises, adding that the tenth guarantee will cater to farmers and tribals but he will reveal it during his next visit. The guarantees rolled out by Kejriwal included 24-hour uninterrupted power supply—free up to 300 units—to every household, waiver of pending electricity bills till November 2023, ₹1,000 monthly ‘samman rashi’ (honorarium) to all women aged above 18 years and free quality school education.

“I have never seen, in 76 years of independent India, a political party that has sought votes from people by promising to build good schools and hospitals. AAP is the only party that talks about these issues. We haven’t entered politics to make money,” he added.

The AAP entered the electoral fray in Chhattisgarh in the 2018 assembly elections, fielding candidates in 85 of the total 90 seats, but drew a blank with a vote share of 0.9%.

The AAP and the Congress are both part of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, or INDIA, a group of 26 opposition parties that aims to dislodge the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance in the next general elections.

On Wednesday, a war of words erupted between the Congress and the AAP after Alka Lamba, a Congress leader from Delhi who was formerly with the AAP, said that the party high command asked the state unit to prepare to fight in all seven seats in the Capital in the 2024 LS elections. Her remarks were later refuted by the Congress’s Delhi in-charge Deepak Babaria. Apart from Delhi and Punjab, the AAP’s possible expansion plan in poll-bound states such as Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan could also be a deal-breaker between the two sides, a Congress leader earlier said on condition of anonymity.

Congress leader Pawan Khera on Saturday slammed Kejriwal for his visit to Chhattisgarh and asked for a debate to compare the performance of the previous Congress government in Delhi with the incumbent AAP government.

“Why go to Raipur? Performance of our Chhattisgarh government will be compared with the previous Raman Singh govt. Let us choose a sector of your choice and compare the performance of the Congress government in Delhi vs your govt here. Ready for a debate?” Pawan Khera said in a post on X (formerly called Twitter).

(With agency inputs)