Taking forward Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Mann Ki Baat radio address concept to devise an interactive Talk to AK webcast, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has demonstrated his growing national political ambitions. While it may have drawn Opposition criticism as a self-glorification project, it does give the AAP chief a perfect opportunity to directly connect to young people across India. The two-hour webcast, which included questions from people across the country, gave Mr Kejriwal a chance to highlight his party’s ambitions in the coming Assembly elections in Punjab, Goa and Mr Modi’s home turf of Gujarat.
Mr Kejriwal again targeted the Centre over the contentious issue of Delhi’s statehood and the division of powers between the Centre and the city. This time, he widened his attacks to also target BJP chief Amit Shah, the party’s main Assembly poll strategist. The AAP leader may have faced mildly uncomfortable questions such as on the state of Delhi’s roads and the non-implementation of his free wi-fi poll promise, but politics was the focus of the webcast.
To a question on the perennial waterlogging of Delhi’s roads in the monsoon, Mr Kejriwal promised a thorough cleanup in a year and a half if Delhi’s voters gave the AAP a mandate to run the three civic bodies. Mr Kejriwal has tried his best, now it’s up to voters in Delhi and elsewhere to decide whether to give him a chance. Despite trolls and mixed reactions on the social media, Talk to AK will be back in a month or two.
