How do you see the functioning of the Kejriwal government in Delhi?
The work of the Delhi government is not there, it either has advertisements or scams. When her government came in 2012, there was a hope that maybe after the Sheila Dixit government, the system of Delhi would improve somewhat. It was thought that these people would work honestly. But exactly the opposite happened. They did nothing except false propaganda and various scams. Delhi CM is responsible for this journey of Delhi government from democracy to loot from 2012 to 2023.
Controversy and tussle between the Kejriwal government and the Center has been going on in Delhi since the beginning. Kejriwal has been saying that he does not allow the central government and the BJP to work. What would you say?
Completely false allegation. The central government gets a lot of work done in Delhi. The G-20 summit meeting is to be held in Delhi this year, the central government will get all the work related to it done. Whether it is the matter of getting the roads of Delhi repaired or the decoration and cleaning of the Yamuna, the central government will get all the work done. Whoever the government may be, the matter is related to the prestige of the country. For all these arrangements, the Ministry of Transport of the Central Government gave more than Rs 500 crore to the Delhi Government. But the Delhi government raised its hands that we will not be able to do anything in the G-20. Now take the Ayushman Bharat scheme itself. In this, every family gets the facility of health insurance up to five lakh rupees. But this scheme was not implemented in Delhi. Their biggest task is to do false propaganda and hide the truth.
After the recent verdict of the Delhi Court, the Aam Aadmi Party says that the allegations made by the BJP regarding the liquor scam proved to be baseless. He says that the BJP is trying to defame the Delhi government.
This allegation is also completely wrong. The two decisions of the court that have come so far in the liquor scam case are not final. These are bail orders only. After the charge sheet, there is a debate in the court. After that comes the final order. The bail order clearly states that it only talks about bail and not the merits of the case. But ‘AAP’ is trying to mislead the people of the country by calling it a clean chit.
After the Delhi Assembly elections, the Aam Aadmi Party’s performance was better in the last local body elections as well. What is the reason that BJP is not able to turn the atmosphere in its favor on the ground?
It’s not like that. BJP has won the local body elections three times in a row. This is no easy task. This time also everyone was saying that 50 to 70 seats would come, but BJP got 100-110 seats. There were many works of MCD, which were not completed. The money from the MCD’s budget is given to the MCD through the Delhi government. The Delhi government did not release the budget so that the MCD could not function. By doing this, she wanted to send a message to the people of Delhi that MCD does not work. In Delhi, whether it is a matter of paying salaries to the sanitation workers on time or getting the drains cleaned, the Delhi government had to pay money for all these, but it did not give the money. On the other hand, the Delhi government did not do the work it had to do. The Jal Board was under their control, yet water did not reach every house. The central government also did the work of electricity. In the year 2015, I brought Rs 900 crore for Delhi from the Union Budget. The central government did the work of providing machines for cleaning sewers in Delhi, but the Kejriwal government did the work of taking credit for it.
BJP termed AAP’s claim on liquor policy as political frustration
What do you think about the kind of atmosphere witnessed in the Karnataka election campaign?
Some people have done very negative campaigning in this election campaign, but it is certain that BJP will form the government in Karnataka.
The opposition has been accusing the BJP of polarization and divisive politics. Was it just a coincidence that the film ‘The Kerala Story’ came out during the Karnataka elections?
There is no relation between the two. But suppressing ‘The Kerala Story’ for so long is definitely related to the opposition. The report regarding the Kerala story was presented in the Kerala Assembly. There were also some orders of the Kerala High Court regarding this. There is a complete study about Kerala. But the people sitting in the government have not even bothered about this till date. Your girls kept getting ruined, the society kept getting spoiled, the boys became terrorists, but what did you do for that society?
You are the Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs. To what extent do you consider India’s foreign policy behind India’s image at the international level?
India’s image at the world level today, along with our foreign policy, has an important role in the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the confidence he has shown while dealing with the world. Whether it is the presidency of the G-20, or the SCO presidency, India has tried to project its leadership potential on every platform.
