In a huge setback to the opposition INDIA bloc, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Preeti Sharma Menon said at a press conference on Monday that the party will contest the upcoming Maharashtra assembly polls on its own and will field candidates on all the 36 assembly seats in Mumbai. She also said that the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP was a part of the opposition alliance and it "was for the Lok Sabha polls and will continue to be together at the national level."
Menon added that the party workers and volunteers have been galvanised and preparations are on in full swing in the rest of the state. She added that under Kejriwal's visionary leadership, the party emerged from a people's movement and is now in power in Delhi and Punjab and has MLAs in Goa and Gujarat as well as MPs.
She said in 10 years, the AAP has demonstrated the 'Delhi model' of development, under which quality education, healthcare, water and electricity is provided free to all without corruption and debt.
"If Delhi and Punjab can deliver, it is due to Aam Aadmi Party's clean politics and new political culture. The present BJP-Shinde Sena government has zero political will for public welfare and is instead busy in wholesale corruption as they are convinced they aren't returning to power," she claimed.
She alleged that the BJP is anti-Maharashtra and anti-Mumbai party whereas the Shinde government has no time for public welfare. She said not only did the Shinde government commit a "fraud on the Constitution" but also failed on all fronts, citing issues such as unemployment, inflation, agrarian distress and farmer suicides.
"Once the most industrialised state in India, Maharashtra is no longer the leader in terms of GDP. Tax payer money is being used as bank guarantees for private cooperatives," Menon noted.
Further attacking the BJP, she said: "The BJP cannot stand Mumbai's pre-eminence as India's largest and most cosmopolitan city, which is also the country's financial capital. Mumbai is the engine for India's economic growth. There is a deliberate attempt to kill Mumbai by the BJP through an exodus of projects meant for Mumbai to Gujarat."
Moreover, Preeti Sharma Menon raised the issue of socially disadvantaged groups and the marginalised sections of the society being subject to violence and discrimination. She also alleged that the state government is not serious on the issue of Maratha reservation despite Manoj Jarange's agitation.