Bengaluru, April 21 (PTI): Eyeing his party's maiden electoral triumph in the south, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday expressed confidence his party will win the 2023 Karnataka elections, after emerging victorious in the national capital and Punjab.
Speaking about alleged corruption in Karnataka while addressing a farmers' rally here, Kejriwal said while the previous Congress government was called "20 per cent commission government", the incumbent BJP dispensation was being dubbed as "40 per cent commission government."
"We, the common people, were challenged to get into politics when we demanded a law against corruption. We formed a political party. Our first government was formed in Delhi and then in Punjab (this year). Now, we will form our next government in Karnataka," Kejriwal said in the rally, organised by various farmers' body, led by the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS).
KRRS convenor Kodihalli Chandrashekar joined the AAP and called upon the members to extend full support to the party.
The AAP chief also referred to the recent alleged suicide of a civil contractor who had accused Karnataka Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister K S Eshwarappa of charging 40 per cent commission.
"Delhi has zero per cent commission government because there is a hardcore honest government in Delhi. Not a paise is taken as bribe,," he claimed.
Sarcastically stating he got a certificate from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for honesty, Kejriwal said the CBI, Income Tax and Delhi police raids carried out against him, his deputy Manish Sisodia and 17 MLAs but the agencies could not find anything concrete to 'frame' them.
Referring to the riots in Delhi and elsewhere in Karnataka, Kejriwal said all the rowdies, rogues, uncouth and corrupt across the country go to "one political party".
"A Minister's son murders farmers by driving his jeep over them, but his father is rewarded with a ministerial position. Whoever commits rape gets a rousing welcome. A small girl was raped, they took out a 'Shobha Yatra'. In such a scenario how can the country prosper," Kejriwal said.
"We don't know about engineering riots. There are riots across the country. Who is doing this? Which party does riots? People of the country do not want riots. They want peace, they want to live peacefully," the AAP chief said.
He said if people want riots, they should vote for "them" but if they need schools, hospitals, free electricity, free transport, free water, they should vote for the AAP.
The Delhi CM also said AAP does not know anything about rowdyism because his party is of gentle people, patriots and honest citizens who want schools, hospitals, roads, potable water, electricity and free transport.
Speaking about farmers, he said even after 75 years of independence their condition has not improved.
Though 45 per cent of the population depended on agriculture, the children of farmers don't wish to take up farming.
He congratulated farmers for their massive agitation in the national capital earlier, which forced the Centre to scrap the three farm laws 13 months after their promulgation.
Welcoming Kodihalli Chandrashekar into the AAP, he said the party would transform the lives of farmers if voted to power. He appealed to the farmers to join the AAP and put an end to corruption in Karnataka.
Chandrashekar said the purity and sanctity of the KRRS would remain though the organisation toils round-the-clock to ensure that the AAP comes to power in Karnataka.
According to Chandrashekar, neither the BJP nor the Congress nor the JD(S) were options anymore to rely upon and called upon farmers across the state to back the AAP, as it is offering alternative politics.