Sisodia slams BJP govt in Uttarakhand after Madan Kaushik skips 'Kejriwal vs Rawat' debate

As Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia reached Dehradun on Monday for an open debate with Uttarakhand Minister Madan Kaushik, the BJP leader decided to give the occasion a miss. The stage was all set for the fiery battle between the Kejriwal model and Trivendra Singh Rawat model of governance, but with the representative of the Uttarakhand government missing, Sisodia was seen sitting across an empty chair with a placard of Madan Kaushik's name on it.

Taking to Twitter, the Delhi Deputy CM sighed with confidence that Urban Development Minister who claimed to highlight hundreds of schemes by the Rawat administration in one breath had 'stepped back from the challenge'. 

"I was happy that this was the start of a healthy democracy and my respect for Madan Kaushik increased. I thought that he wanted to strengthen democracy by this public debate where leaders from two different governments would come face to face before the public and talk of their development works. But by not coming today [Monday], Kaushik seems to have run away from the debate,” said Manish Sisodia on Monday.

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The Delhi Deputy CM also took a jibe at the Trivendra Singh Rawat administration as he labelled the Uttarakhand government as a 'sting model of governance'. Highlighting the AAP model of governance in Delhi, Sisodia emphasized that the Kejriwal government had worked to improve schools, hospitals, power and water supply in the national capital. “The 100 programmes that Madan Kaushik was talking about must be only on paper. If they would have been implemented, then Kaushik would have come here today. He didn’t come because none of the programmes has been implemented,” said the AAP leader.

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Moreover, Sisodia has also issued a challenge to Madan Madan Kaushik for another debate in the national capital on January 6 and added that the Delhi Deputy CM would show the work done by AAP government to the Uttarakhand Minister. “It is clear that the contest in 2022 would be between BJP and AAP and nobody else because it is only the AAP which can fulfil the dreams of Uttarakhand,” he added. 

AAP sets eyes on Uttarakhand

Sisodia has been visiting Dehradun throughout December - holding town halls, visiting Haridwar, inducting new party workers. He has often slammed the BJP government over corruption, lack of facilities in areas of urban development, electricity, education, etc - stating that the Trivendra Rawat government has not done any work for the people of Uttarakhand in the last 4 years. He had also written to Uttarakhand Urban Development Minister Madan Mohan Kaushik and invited him to an open debate on 'Arvind Kejriwal model v/s Trivendra Rawat model' on January 4.

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AAP has announced that it will contest on all 70 seats in the next Assembly elections in Uttarakhand. Speaking further, Manish Sisodia said that he has observed that the people in Uttarakhand are unhappy with Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat. "A lot of people from Uttarkhand used to visit us and say that the way AAP government worked in Delhi they should come to power in Uttarkhand too," said Sisodia.

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