Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would win by a better margin if his Delhi counterpart and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal is projected as the Opposition's prime ministerial candidate to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the next general election.
Sarma, who is also the convener of the BJP-led anti-Congress alliance of regional parties -- North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), said this while reacting to Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia's assertion that Kejriwal would emerge as the main challenger to PM Modi in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
"People in many states do not know Kejriwal and his party. It would be very good for the BJP if Kejriwal is the Opposition's face for the 2024 election as most people have not even heard his name," he told the media after launching the flood rehabilitation grants and providing aid under the "Orunodoi" schemes through DBT.
Reacting to the allegations of the AAP that the Centre is trying to destroy the health service model initiated by the Kejriwal-led Delhi government, the Assam Chief Minister remarked that Delhi's 'mohalla clinics' cannot be a model for health service.
"People may visit Assam to see how we are promoting the medical colleges and providing health services to each and every area of all the districts in the state," Sarma said.
The AAP on Saturday reportedly said that "misusing the power of the central government", the BJP has been trying to stop Arvind Kejriwal because work and performances in the education and health sector of Delhi government is being discussed abroad as well.
"The BJP government at the Centre is concerned about Arvind Kejriwal because they foresee him as the main challenger to Modi in the upcoming general election," Sisodia said in Delhi.
He also claimed that in the 2024 election, the main electoral battle would be between the AAP and the BJP.
The CBI had carried out searches at Sisodia's home and many other locations on Friday over the allegations of corruption in Delhi's liquor policy.