'Abki Baar 3 Paar' Would Be BJP's Slogan For Delhi Assembly Polls: Arvind Kejriwal

Taking a swipe at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Saturday “abki baar 3 paar” (this time they will cross 3 seats) would be the slogan of the saffron party for upcoming Delhi Assembly elections. Speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in New Delhi, Kejriwal said the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) slogan would be "abki baar 67 paar" (this time we will cross 67 seats) in the assembly polls due early next year.

When asked whether he considers Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari a competitor in the elections, the chief minister praised him for his singing.

"Have you heard him singing 'Rinkiya ke papa'," Kejriwal quipped.

He said Delhiites talk so much about the work done by the AAP government that party leaders do not even have to give speeches in elections. The chief minister said the political discourse has changed in the national capital.

"After five years of being in power, our critics have started loving us. We will win more hearts in the next two months (till elections)," he said.

Assembly elections are due early next year and the new government in Delhi will have to be installed by February 22, 2020.

Kejriwal said his next target would be cleaning the Yamuna, improving transport infrastructure, providing clean water in every household round-the-clock and maintain city's roads as per European standards.

He said people in Delhi have been getting 24-hour electricity supply, leading to reduction in pollution levels in the city as use of generators has gone down significantly.

Talking about air pollution at the summit, Kejriwal said, "In the last five years, two things have happened - traffic and industrial activities have increased. But in the last five years, pollution in Delhi has gone down. There can be a debate on how much, but it has gone down."

According to the chief minister, the air quality in the national capital plummeted after farmers started burning more stubble in neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana.

"We are helpless in front of this," Kejriwal said.

He said according to a recent CAG report tabled in the assembly, the Delhi government had maintained a revenue surplus over the last five years and asserted that it was because of an "honest government" in the city.