 "Atishi marlena")
Senior AAP leader Atishi on Wednesday alleged that the BJP was "openly" violating the model code of conduct and the Election Commission was not acting against it, affecting the level-playing field in the Lok Sabha polls.
In an interview to PTI, she said the AAP was hopeful of opening its account in Assam where the party has fielded candidates in two seats -- Dibrugarh and Sonitpur, which are going to the polls in the first phase on April 19.
"Yesterday AAP had a rally in Tinsukia. We applied for permission before the BJP. But as Amit Shah was coming for a roadshow, AAP's permission was denied. We were made to change our routes and our timing. Our party workers and volunteers were not allowed to reach the location," she claimed.
"Openly and brazenly the model code of conduct was violated by the BJP, and yet there was no action from the EC," Atishi added.
She said there was serious concern about the "lack" of a level playing field "not just in Assam but across the country".
Atishi, the education minister of Delhi, said that the people of Assam have shown great love for AAP since the time the party contested and won civic body seats in Guwahati and Tinsukia.
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She said that people even in remote parts of the state, which she visited during the trip, knew of AAP and the work being done by its governments in Delhi and Punjab.
She said the people of Assam are looking for change as they have seen both Congress and BJP in power for many years.
"The BJP said that it has a double-engine government and all its promises will be kept. But tea garden workers' daily wages remained low, no MSP was declared, ST status to six communities not given, and nothing happened even about the illegal migrants, who were supposed to be packed off," Atishi claimed.
She said AAP's main agenda of education and health will also be in focus in Assam, along with other state-specific issues.
"The public education system is collapsing here, and government schools are shutting down. There are no doctors, nurses or medicines in primary health centres and hospitals," she alleged.
Atishi said the AAP will work to increase the daily wage of tea garden workers to Rs 450, provide land rights to them, and also ensure MSP for green tea leaves.
Reiterating her party's opposition to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA, she said, "On one hand, people living in Assam did not get land rights for generations, and on the other hand, people coming from other countries will be given citizenship, land, houses, jobs. So what kind of justice is this?" "There is also the larger question of CAA's impact on the culture of Assam," she added.
On the opposition's decision to field one candidate against BJP not fructifying in many seats, Atishi said, "It is unfortunate. AAP did want an alliance, but for various reasons, it couldn't happen." She said the AAP withdrew its candidate in Guwahati in the hope that the alliance would happen in other seats.
"We chose the two seats where we felt that we had the strongest candidates against the BJP," she added.
