Jalandhar (Punjab): Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has expressed confidence of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) winning all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab and claimed that people are agitated with the BJP "due to rising prices and unemployment" .
Kejriwal, who is out on interim bail till June 1 in the excise policy case, said that he is proud of going to jail to save the country from "dictatorship".
"I think we are going to win all 13 seats in Punjab. In two years of our tenure, we made electricity free and we are making good schools, hospitals, and Mohalla clinics, and providing employment. People are very happy about this, so we should be getting 13 seats," Kejriwal told ANI.
Both AAP and Congress are part of the INDIA bloc but have no alliance in Punjab.
Kejriwal accused the BJP of trying to break opposition parties.
"I am ready and I am proud that I am going to jail to save this country. I am a follower of Bhagat Singh, he got hanged for this country...the dictatorship and hooliganism, the environment, they (BJP) have created. Governments are dismissed, MLAs are defected, and NCP and Shiv Sena were divided into two parties. The corrupt leaders are inducted into BJP...Even if I have to go to jail 100 times against this dictatorship, I will consider it as a matter of pride," he said.
Kejriwal alleged that the BJP wants 400 seats because it wants to change the Constitution and end the reservation for SC, ST and OBC communities.
"Why do they (BJP) want 400 seats? Because they have decided that they will change the Constitution and end reservation. The government can also be run with 300 seats, but they want 400 so that they can end the reservation for SC, ST and OBC. When they were caught, they are trying to divert the issue," he alleged.
Kejriwal alleged that Home Minister Amit Shah has threatened to dismiss the Punjab government and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann after the polls and claimed that people of Punjab will give a fitting reply to the BJP in the elections.
"Home Minister Amit Shah came to Ludhiana and threatened the people of Punjab, that they will dismiss the government elected by them and remove the elected Chief Minister after June 4...how will you do this? We have 92 out of 117 seats. Will you send ED, CBI, threaten or break us?" the AAP national convenor asked.
"The people of Punjab have big hearts, if he (Amit Shah) had requested politely, maybe BJP could have got one seat, but now he has threatened, so the three crore people of Punjab will give a reply of these threats on June 1," he added.
Amit Shah had at a rally in Punjab urged voters to ensure the victory of BJP candidates and said that the Bhagwant Mann government would not last long after the BJP's victory.
AAP is contesting 22 seats in the Lok Sabha elections. The voting in the 7 seats of Delhi was held during the sixth phase of Lok Sabha elections on May 25.
Voting for Punjab's 13 Lok Sabha seats will take place in the seventh and final phase on June 1. Votes will be counted on June 4.
—ANI