Lucknow: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal asserted on Thursday that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) harbors ambitions of securing over 400 seats in the Lok Sabha elections with the intention of potentially ending reservation policies.
During a joint press conference alongside Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, Kejriwal reiterated his belief that Home Minister Amit Shah is being positioned as the next Prime Minister, and that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath would be replaced should the BJP return to power.
Stating, “The people within the BJP have historically expressed opposition towards reservation policies,” Kejriwal emphasized his apprehension that the party may seek to alter the Constitution to discontinue reservations for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC) groups upon assuming power.
Kejriwal further pointed out Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s purported directive stipulating that individuals over 75 years of age would not be appointed to governmental positions, referencing the retirement of senior BJP leaders L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi in accordance with this regulation. He alleged that Modi, nearing the age of 75 himself, has purportedly earmarked Amit Shah as his successor.
Highlighting the sidelining of key BJP leaders such as Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Vasundhara Raje, Raman Singh, Devendra Fadnavis, and Manohar Lal Khattar, Kejriwal suggested that Adityanath’s removal as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister would follow should the BJP regain power, positing Adityanath as a potential obstacle to Shah’s ascension.
Kejriwal cautioned against the BJP’s purported agenda to secure more than 400 parliamentary seats, attributing this ambition to a desire to dismantle the reservation system championed by B R Ambedkar. Despite his apprehensions, Kejriwal cited trends across various states suggesting a diminishing electoral performance for the BJP, with notable losses anticipated in states such as Haryana, Delhi, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Bihar, and Jharkhand. According to him, the BJP is forecasted to secure only 143 of the total 543 Lok Sabha seats.
Echoing Kejriwal’s sentiments, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav declared that the BJP’s anticipated performance in the first four phases of the election suggests a substantial shortfall from its earlier projection of securing 400 seats.
