CM candidate will be from Punjab only: Kejriwal

Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said the party's chief ministerial candidate in Punjab will be from the state itself, scotching speculation that he was himself in the race.

“The chief minister of Punjab will be from the state itself,” he said while addressing a public rally at Badshapur in this district a day after Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia told people in Mohali that they should vote to assume that it is to make Kejriwal the CM.

Sisodia's remarks were latched on to by SAD and Congress which accused Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of trying to foist an “outsider” on Punjab. However, Kejriwal on Wednesday said he will remain the chief minister of Delhi and he holds huge responsibility.

In the same breath, he said, “Whosoever will be the Punjab chief minister, it will be my personal responsibility that all promises made by AAP are fulfilled.”

He said people of Punjab can make him “personally accountable” for all the works. Punjab is going to polls on February 4.

Hitting out at Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, Kejriwal claimed that the Shiromani Akali Dal president woke up thrice from his sleep on Tuesday night after having nightmares of him (Kejriwal) being the next chief minister of the state.

Referring to allegations against a chit fund company, he said AAP will mortgage the properties of owners and get people's money refunded. 

On Tuesday, Kejriwal was virtually declared the CM candidate in Punjab by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), injecting a new dimension to what is considered a three-way race in the Assembly polls. “You vote thinking that you are voting to make Arvind Kejriwal as the CM (of Punjab). Your vote is for Kejriwal,” Sisodia had said.