Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala on Thursday described Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal as “Chhota Modi” and said he has come to Goa to give “covering fire” to the ruling BJP which is "losing" ground in the coastal state going to polls on February 14.
Addressing a press conference here, Surjewala also termed the Delhi CM, whose party is contesting the Goa assembly polls, as an “imposter”.
“Kejriwal is the person who swore by Lokayukta and Lokpal (anti-corruption bodies). He is the person who came to power opposing the Congress party. Where is Lokpal? Where has it gone? Why Arvind Kejriwal no longer speaks about Lokpal?” Surjewala said, attacking the AAP leader.
The Congress leader said Kejriwal used to speak about the common man and he should now explain the source of money being used by his party for contesting polls.
“Sheila Dikshit (former Delhi CM of Congress) used to spend Rs 100 crore on advertisements, Kejriwal spends Rs 1,100 crore on advertisements. He is the same man who swore by honesty and transparency,” he added.
“Where is the government of 'aam aadmi' (common man). Arvind Kejriwal is nothing but Chhota Modi. His mannerism, culture, dictatorship,” Surjewala said, implying that the Delhi CM is a political clone of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Congress leader claimed the AAP convener represents the BJP's ideology.
"Kejriwal is an imposter. Arvind Kejriwal represents what the RSS or BJP represents. Kejriwal is in Goa and Uttarakhand to give covering fire to the BJP which is losing ground,” he said.
Surjewala said Kejriwal tried to adopt the same political strategy in the last Punjab polls but failed.
He claimed wherever the BJP starts losing ground, the Kejriwal-led AAP and the Hyderabad-based AIMIM come to its rescue.
“They will seem to be opposing the BJP. Let Goans not be mistaken, at the end of the day, Kejriwal runs his government with the BJP's assistance,” he said.
“So many scams have happened in Delhi (ruled by AAP), there is no way he would have been able to run the government... he would been behind bars even if 10 per cent of those scams were investigated and taken to logical conclusion in a court of law,” Surjewala alleged.
