Dikshit had transformed Delhi by building flyovers, schools, new universities, new hospitals, privatised the power sector, introduced CNG and the Delhi Metro. Khel Gaon and the Common-wealth Games Village came up under her tenure. Rampant power cuts stopped and public transport improved. But her work and her voice were drowned in the propaganda unleashed by Kejriwal.Kejriwal and his young followers had no recollection of the pre-Sheila Dikshit days in Delhi it seemed.In Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, Kejriwal is promising to regularise employees on contract even as 22,000 teachers in Delhi itself, besides Anganwadi workers, accuse him of not regularising them even after seven years in power. “The promise was held out in all three elections in Delhi by AAP,” points out Anil Chaudhary, president of Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee.Chaudhary also makes the startling claim that not a single ration card has been made in Delhi since 2013. “The last ration card was made during Sheila Dikshit’s government,” he says.There is an iconic picture of Kejriwal cutting the electric wire himself. He had promised to bring down power tariff and file cases against power distributing companies. “But the government is increasing fixed charges, charging consumers from the back door and claiming it has not increased the tariff; who is he fooling,” fumes Shastri.“Covid exposed AAP government’s failures on the health front. The much publicised Mohalla Clinics were nowhere to be seen and hospitals and health infrastructure built by Sheila Diskhit came to the rescue of the people,” recalls Alka Lamba. “When oxygen was in short supply during the second wave and hospital beds were full, Youth Congress president Srinivas BV was seen arranging oxygen cylinders for the needy. Where was Kejriwal?” Yamuna remains as polluted as ever. Delhi Transport Corporation’s fleet of buses has only depleted. Marshalls in DTC buses for women’s safety are non-existent. On paper women can travel free in buses. But buses are few and far between and drivers often do not stop to pick up women, since they would not pay the fare.People who have worked closely with Kejriwal are unanimous about his abusive and authoritarian streak. Much like Modi, he cannot tolerate even the mildest dissent, forget about criticism, says a journalist who claims he lost his job because of Kejriwal. “He threatened the owner that all govt ads would stop if I was not shown the door,” he said but was unwilling to be named. “This man is so vindictive that he can go to any length to harm his critics,” he claimed.Even his former colleagues are reluctant to speak on record. Indeed, even aides dumped by him are not willing to talk about their experience. “Only yes men like Raghav Chadda, Dilip Pandey or Atishi have survived so far while former friends and associates like Yogendra Yadav, Prashant Bhushan, Kumar Vishwas, Ashutosh and Ashish Khaitan have drifted away,” points out a former associate.He is dictatorial and would not allow another voice, complains Shastri, while Alka Lamba says, “Arvind is essentially a very insecure person.” He incessantly spoke of one-man-onepost but has not bothered to relinquish his position as the Convenor of the party after becoming the chief minister.Everyone gives him full marks for marketing strategies, managing headlines and building narratives, fake or foul. There are fewer schools under Delhi Government than in 2013, they say. There are no principals in 442 schools. In 750 government schools English is not taught. In 550 schools Science is not being taught in classes XI and XII.
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