‘Aapda’, ‘Sheesh Mahal’ & more: Modi targets AAP, Kejriwal hits back as Delhi poll battle heats up
NEW DELHI, JAN 3 : Prime Minister Modi and former Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal exchanged strong words on Friday, as the BJP and AAP ramp up their political battle ahead of the assembly elections in the national capital next month.
At a press conference, Kejriwal responded to Modi’s remarks on AAP’s rule in Delhi, accusing the BJP of engaging in “abusive politics” and “personal attacks,” stating that if the BJP had delivered results, Modi wouldn’t resort to abusing Delhi’s people.
The war of words began when PM Modi labeled the Kejriwal-led AAP as “aapda” (disaster) for Delhi during an event where he launched a series of infrastructure projects in the city.
Modi said that the “aapda” has held Delhi in its grip for the past 10 years and warned that the situation would worsen if its rule continued. Giving a call for AAP’s defeat, Modi raised the slogan, “‘Aapda ko nahi sahenge, badal kar rahenge’ (we will not tolerate ‘aapda’, we will remove it).”
“This year will usher in a new politics of nation-building and people’s welfare. Therefore, ‘aapda’ has to be removed and the BJP brought in,” the prime minsiter said.
Due to the city government not allowing the Centre’s signature health insurance scheme, Ayushman Bharat, and other programmes in the national capital, Modi said he was unable to the people living here fully despite his efforts.
If highways are being built in the capital and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has been able to make houses for the poor, it is because “aapda” does not have much role in these sectors, he added.
Taking a swipe at Kejriwal, Modi said he could also have built a “sheesh mahal” (glass palace) for himself but his dream was to ensure homes for everyone in the country. The country knows very well that he never built a home for himself, Modi claimed.
“But in the past 10 years, (my government) has built four crore houses for the poor and fulfilled their dreams. I could have also built a ‘sheesh mahal’. But my dream was to give a pucca house to my countrymen,” he said, stressing his vision to provide a concrete house to those living in slums.
“These people commit corruption and then glorify it,” he said, accusing AAP of shamelessness and making false promises.
The BJP has been targeting Kejriwal for allegedly spending a huge amount of money on his official residence when he was chief minister, and described his erstwhile home as “sheesh mahal.”
Reponding to the prime minister’s ‘sheesh mahal’ jibe, Kejriwal said: “One who builds a house worth Rs 2,700 crore for himself, who travels in airplane worth Rs 8,400 crore, one who wears Rs 10 lakh suit, talking about ‘sheesh mahal’ doesn’t suit his mouth… I don’t want to indulge in personal accusations, I don’t do politics of abuses.”
The AAP chief also said the BJP is facing its own ‘aapda’, as it lacks a CM face, a clear narrative, and any substantial issues for the Delhi polls.
“In his speech today, Modiji spent 39 minutes doing nothing but abusing the elected government and people of Delhi. Even two-three hours would be insufficient to list the work done by our (AAP) government in the last 10 years,” the former Delhi CM said.
On the other hand, the BJP government has not done any work that Modiji could have talked about in his speech. If it had done any work, he would not have had to just abuse the people of Delhi. The party would not have had to try to win the election by abusing the residents of Delhi,” he added.
Labelling BJP as “the enemy of poor”, Kejirwal accused the Centre rendering over 2 lakh people homeless by demolishing slums in Delhi. He also hit back at the PM of not following through with the promise of building pucca houses for “everyone in Delhi.”
“In 2020, PM Modi made several promises to people of Delhi. The 2020 ‘Sankalp Patra’ clearly states that ‘everyone in Delhi will get pucca house by 2022’… Today in 2025, PM Modi has handed over the keys to 1,700 homes and he gave keys to 3,000 houses in Kalka Ji some time ago. In total, he has given keys to 4,700 houses in 5 years. In Delhi, there are 4 lakh slums and 15 lakh people need homes. Looks like their manifesto was for 200 years instead of 5 years,” Kejriwal said.
-PTI
