India / Will fund SC children's foreign education: Kejriwal in Punjab

Chandigarh: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday made a string of new promises to the underprivileged people of Punjab and accused Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi of using the caste card.

While speaking at a rally in Hoshiarpur, Kejriwal said, "I have five promises for the people from Scheduled Caste."

"We will provide free education for children, free coaching for IAS, Medical and IIT, free foreign education for college students, free medical service, Rs 1000 per month for women above 18 years," he announced.

Training guns at Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi, the AAP national convenor said, "Charanjit Singh Channi belongs to the Scheduled Caste (SC) and is asking people of his community to vote for him. I do not belong to the SC community but I come from your family."

"I am willing to help you but Channi Sahab is only playing his SC card to gather votes," he added.

Yesterday, Captain Amarinder Singh announced that his party Punjab Lok Congress will contest the upcoming Punjab Assembly elections in alliance with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa's party.

Notably, Amarinder Singh quit Congress after months of in-fighting with current state Punjab PCC President Navjot Singh Sidhu and formed his own party.

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), a long-term ally of the BJP, parted ways with the NDA-led government last year at the Centre over the issue of farm laws which have now been repealed.

Punjab is scheduled to go for Assembly polls in 2022.

In the 2017 Punjab Assembly polls, Congress won an absolute majority in the state by winning 77 seats and ousted the SAD-BJP government after 10 years.

Aam Aadmi Party emerged as the second-largest party winning 20 seats in 117-member Punjab Legislative Assembly. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) could only manage to win 15 seats while the BJP secured 3 seats.