Punjab Polls: Arvind Kejriwal Woos SC Community, Promises Free Education, Coaching Fees For Higher Education For Children

Highlights:

• Arvind Kejriwal promises free medical treatment to those from the SC category.
• He also promised that women above 18 years will also receive Rs. 1,000 per month. 
• “Channi Sahab is merely playing his SC card to get votes,” said Arvind Kejriwal. 

In an effort to attract the Scheduled Caste community ahead of the Punjab assembly elections, AAP national leader Arvind Kejriwal announced on Tuesday that if his government is formed, he will offer free education to their children as well as pay their coaching expenses for further study.

Mr Kejriwal accused Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi of “vote bank politics” while speaking to a meeting of the Scheduled Caste (SC) community in the Hoshiarpur district.

Mr. Channi is notable for being the first Punjab chief minister from the SC community. The state’s Dalit population is around 32%.

Mr Kejriwal urged the crowd to vote for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for the first time, claiming that the opposition parties, the Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal, had been given numerous chances.

The chief minister of Delhi told the audience that he had five “guarantees” for the SC community.

He went on to say that if the AAP is elected to power in the Punjab assembly elections early next year, he will give free education to children to the SC community.

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“If a child from the SC community wants coaching, like we did in Delhi, for engineering, medical education, railway, IAS, or any paper, the Punjab government would pay his/her entire fee,” he stated.

If a child from the SC community decides to go overseas for graduation or postgraduate studies, the state government will cover the costs, he said.

He further assured that the state government will cover any medical expenses incurred by any member of the SC family for the treatment of any sickness.

He also promised that every woman above the age of 18 would get Rs. 1,000 every month.

Taking on the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Kejriwal stated that Mr Channi is a Ravidassia. “That is why he is urging the people of South Carolina to vote for him.”

He informed the crowd that, while he was not from the SC community, “But I come from your family.”

“If anybody from your family gets sick, I will get your treatment done by becoming your son. If tomorrow, your child wants to become an IAS officer I and you will make him the IAS officer. If your child wants a good education then your elder brother will help you. Channi sahib will not help,” said the Delhi Chief Minister.