The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) hit back at Amit Shah for his statement about toppling the government of Punjab. The AAP said that Amit Shah threatened three crore Punjabis and hurt the dignity of Punjab, the people of Punjab don't take kindly to the threats of anyone, it looks like the BJP and its leaders have forgotten the farmers' protest.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal held a press conference in Bathinda, on Monday, and addressed this serious issue. Arvind Kejriwal heavily criticised Amit Shah's statement and said that Shah has threatened the people of Punjab that after June 4, he will topple the Aam Aadmi Party government and remove Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who is elected by three crore Punjabis.
Kejriwal asked Amit Shah how much money do you have that you are bidding for the people of Punjab and their mandate? Do you want to buy the elected representatives of Punjab? Will you now scare the people of Punjab with ED and CBI? Kejriwal said that the people of Punjab are not going to be scared of threats. These are brave people. You cannot buy or scare them.
Kejriwal said that in fact their aim is to topple the Aam Aadmi Party government and stop the free electricity being given to the people of Punjab. He appealed to the people that if you want to continue free electricity, then make the Aam Aadmi Party win all 13 seats of Punjab, otherwise the BJP people will stop your free electricity. If we have more MPs in the Parliament, then we will be able to fight the central government and continue free electricity and other facilities.
He said that during the farmers' movement in 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not allow the farmers of Punjab to enter Delhi. Nails were put on the road. Then the farmers protested on the Delhi border for a year and a quarter in which about 750 people were martyred. Most of them were from Punjab. He said that Narendra Modi and Amit Shah hate the people of Punjab.
Kejriwal said that the Modi government is harassing Punjab. The Center has stopped about eight and a half thousand crores of Punjab. Roads and other development works were to be done in the villages of Punjab with that money. They have stopped the money for Punjab's Health Mission. They are doing this because they do not want Punjab to develop.
Bhgwant Mann's statement
In his statement to the media, chief minister Bhagwant Mann said that yesterday Amit Shah came to Ludhiana to seek votes for the BJP candidate but instead he threatened to topple the Punjab government after the election.
Mann said that actually it is the style of the BJP, they are dictatorial, they have done this before, everyone saw their hooliganism during the mayor election of Chandigarh, fortunately there were CCTV cameras and then Supreme Court interfered and announced the AAP mayor winner.
Mann said that Punjabis contributed the most during the freedom struggle of our country. Who is Amit Shah to threaten the people of Punjab? Maybe the BJP and its leaders have forgotten the farmers' agitation when Narendra Modi had to apologise and repeal the anti-farmer laws.
Mann said that the people of Punjab have elected this government, they gave us historic mandate, we have 92 MLAs, BJP only has three, on what basis they are talking about deposing a democratically elected government. Mann said that Amit Shah thinks that the political ground of India is a market, he can buy anything or anyone.
But that is not true. Our MLAs have won their seats by 50-60 thousand votes margins, we have the support of the people of Punjab. He said that the AAP is an organisation. We are soldiers of Arvind Kejriwal, Arvind Kejriwal is not just a person, he is an idea and every soldier of the AAP follows this ideology.
Mann said that the BJP broke Shiv Sena and NCP, they sent opposition leaders to jails, they arrested Arvind Kejriwal, Hemant Soren, then they say let's have elections now. This is a dictatorship. Mann said that Narendra Modi came to Punjab and only abused me.
He didn't talk about problems of the common people, inflation, unemployment, education or health system, he only bad mouthed about me. Modi said that I give attendance in Delhi-darbar when everyone knows about the darbar of Modi-Shah.
Mann asked who finished the political career of Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Manohar Lal Khattar and Raman Singh and why. Mann said that Modi-Shah sideline the leaders in the BJP who don't flatter them. Mann said that they use ED and CBI as a weapon against the opposition and governor as a weapon against non-BJP government.
Mann said that Amit Shah is talking about knocking down the AAP government, but in reality he should be worried about the BJP government at centre. Mann said that Modi is not winning this election, it is clear from the six phases of polls and from the statements and tone of Narendra Modi.
Mann said that AAP has seven MPs in the Rajya Sabha and soon we will have 13 MPs from Punjab in Lok Sabha. We are winning in Delhi, Gujarat, Assam and Kurukshetra seats. We will protect Punjab's rights in the parliament too.
Mann took a dig at Narendra Modi and said that Hindi language has 6 lakh words but Modi knows only 10 words - Hindustan-Pakistan, Mandir-Masjid, Manglasutra-Muslim, Kabristan-Samshan ghat and Cow-Buffalo. He never talks about the actual issues of the common people, he doesn't have a school or hospital to show for his 10 years as PM.
Mann said that the BJP does the politics of hatred but the AAP does the politics of work. We are asking for votes on the basis of our work of two years. I gave 43,000 government jobs, we are building Punjab's infrastructure, schools of eminence and Aam Aadmi clinics. Mann said that the politics of hatred is a threat to our country and our mutual brotherhood.
Mann said that Punjab gives the biggest share in the food stock of the country. Instead of talking about something positive in his Punjab visit, Amit Shah chose to talk about breaking Punjab's government because it is their mentality.
Mann said that when our farmers were going to Delhi to protest against the BJP government then they sealed the border of Haryana and Delhi, like it was the border of Russia-Ukraine or Israel-Palestine.
Mann said that now that the people of Delhi and Punjab are getting free electricity, quality education and health care, children of the poor are becoming officers, clearing competitive exams and the youth are getting jobs in the AAP government. So, they want to stop us and with us they want to stop the growth of the politics of work in the country.
Mann said that most of the AAP leaders, including him, Arvind Kejriwal, Dr Sandeep Pathak, are from non-political backgrounds. We are here to fight for the common people, to save the constitution of Baba Saheb Ambedkar and the democracy of our country.
Mann said that the people of Punjab are very angry about this statement of Amit Shah because it was an attack on the dignity of Punjab. Mann said that the BJP is not even getting a single seat in Punjab because Punjabis never tolerate the politics of hatred, they will never stand with anti-people and anti-Punjab forces.
Mann said that the BJP is resorting to such extreme behaviour because they are nearing their end. Mann said 'att' and 'ant' are very close to each other and BJP is covering the distance between them very fast.