Why Arvind Kejriwal is sure of winning 47 seats in Delhi

With less than 40 days left for the Delhi Assembly polls, the campaign and preparations for the three way battle between conventional players - Congress and BJP - and the alleged game changer, Aam Aadmi Party are in full swing. The AAP chief, Arvind Kejriwal talks to Firstpost about why he wants to be Chief Minister of Delhi. Firstpost: Aam Aadmi party members and you have made ambitious claims in your ads, nothing short of a revolution, what if nothing extraordinary happens? What if you do not come into power? Arvind Kejriwal : We will sit in opposition, we are an honest alternative to both the BJP and Congress, it is for people to decide if they want to see us in power. Firstpost: Will popularity and the fact that you claim many people look at you as an alternative to the current political system, translate into votes in the assembly polls? [caption id=“attachment_1167251” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Arvind Kejriwal. AFP[/caption] Arvind Kejriwal: Our survey makes it clear. Popularity will add to votes, but it was not the case always. When we were not a party, people would praise our work and that would be all, now people promise votes, they come and tell us number of votes their family will put for us. We are the alternative. Firstpost: Sheila Dikshit refused to respond to your open debate proposal, do you think an open debate is a personality contest and since you are a new entrant most questions would be directed towards her? Delhi has seen Congress rule for 15 years. If Sheila Dikshit has done something wrong only then she would be targeted. If she is afraid it means she has something to hide, else why would she not use this opportunity and clear the air with voters in Delhi. She is not facing people because all Congress has done in 15 years is chori. _Firstpos_t: What are the issues you want to debate? Arvind Kejriwal: I will not decide any issues, the aam aadmi has to decide. They have many issues and many questions, till now their role was only to vote. In a democracy involvement of people is very crucial. I might say that onion price is their main concern but it could be anything ranging from water to electricity. Let people decide, we need to encourage people to take part. Firstpost: According to you what are the 5 main issues concerning Delhi? Arvind Kejriwal: Corruption, it is the main issue. Price rise is another issue, in fact corruption adds to price rise, prices of all commodities have increased. Electricity and water, security of women are other problems in Delhi. Firstpost: If AAP comes to power and you become the Chief Minister, how will you solve these problems that plague Delhi? Arvind Kejriwal: Everyone knows AAP is dedicated towards fighting corruption. We plan to bring the Jan Lokpal Bill, Swaraj bill. We will work on office appointments in authorities at all levels. If corruption is tackled prices will come down on their own. Unlike the Sheila Dikshit government, we will not appease hoarders, we will take strict action against them. There is no dirth of water, the water distribution system is flawed, infact there is a water tanker mafia in Delhi, the mafia is run by Congress and BJP, both. If this mafia is tackled then there is no water shortage. For security of women we will increase the number of fast track courts, cases have to be finished within six months. We will not act like the current government, Sheila Dikshit refused to take any responsibility for December 16. Firstpost: After BJP announced Dr. Harshvardhan as their candidate you tweeted ’ Harshvardhan is the Manmohan Singh of BJP,’ why is that, he has a clean image and is popular due to his earlier work? Arvind Kejriwal: Yes, he is the silent Manmohan Singh of BJP. The day Dr Harsh vardhan was elevated BJP was out of the race in Delhi. They claim that he has a clean image, but what has he done for Delhi, he has remained silent always just like our current Prime minister. BJP has accepted defeat, their internal differences have cost them this election. Just like Central government makes Manmohan Singh the scapegoat, BJP will use Harsh vardhan to sign all the papers. Also, he is not a strong leader, he has never shown courage in assembly to speak on important issues. People will not relate to him. This is not at all an elevation. Firstpost: Sheila Dikshit admitted in an interview that you have caught the imagination of masses but doubted your vision, how would you react to that? Arvind Kejriwal: It would be better if Sheila Dikshit looks at the vision of her own party, there is only one difference in our vision - Honesty. She had 15 years to prove her capabilities, now if we are given a chance we will show what we can do. Firstpost: AAP has been carved out of anti corruption movements in 2011 and 2012, during that period you said you do not form a political party or contest elections, and now you hope to become  CM, doesn’t it also make you a power hungry politician? Arvind Kejriwal: I completely concede. I do not aspire to be the Chief Minister. We never wanted to fight elections, never in my dreams I wanted to form a political party. It was after so many movements, when nothing worked we were left with no option, every leader would mock us ’ go make your party and fight election,’ we revisited our decision. Firstpost: How many seats are you sure of winning? Arvind Kejriwal: 47 seats. Firstpost: A political party cannot just live on past glory and flaws of the current political system, it has to have an opinion on several pressing issues and take stands. How will you form a consensus? Arvind Kejriwal: We are right now concentrating on Delhi. If we were to work on AAP’s economic and foreign policy, we would be the first party to do so. Congress and BJP have no policies. What are the policies of Mayawati and Mulayam Singh Yadav? They only look at what’s in it for them. Their policy is only to make money. Firstpost: What if Sheila Dikshit changes her constituency and doesn’t fight from New Delhi? Will you fight only against her? Or you will fight from two constituencies? Arvind Kejriwal: I will fight against her. I will not contest from two constituencies. Firstpost: Don’t you think you are seeing things or reality as you want to see them - casteless society, politics without religion, etc? Do you think your approach towards politics has cut across all caste and religion? Arvind Kejriwal: Common man is not interested in politics based on religion, they are interested in corruption free governance. Political parties have created these distinctions, they bring religion into politics for their own purpose. Firstpost: When we speak to voters, young and old, they are sceptical of capabilities of a novice party, critics believe it is too soon for AAP to contest elections. Arvind Kejriwal : There is a first time for everyone. In fact we are glad that we have no experience with this current political set up, we bring freshness. Governance is no rocket science, we have experts from various fields in our party. I have been an income tax officer, Prashant Bhushan is a lawyer, Manish Sisodia is a former journalist.