New Delhi, Jan 22: AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday announced a seven-point “manifesto” for the country’s middle class, saying they have been neglected by successive governments and are a victim of “tax terrorism”.
In a video message on Wednesday, he said the middle class is the “real superpower” of the Indian economy but has long been ignored and exploited solely for tax collection.
The BJP said it was shocking that Kejriwal, instead of offering his vision for the middle class, has tried to mislead them by posing “populist demands” before the Centre.
Kejriwal announced the seven-point charter aimed at addressing the concerns of the middle class and demanded the BJP-led Centre to address them.
The demands included raising the education budget from the current 2 per cent to 10 per cent and capping private school fees. He also proposed subsidies and scholarships for higher education to make quality education accessible to all.
The AAP chief stressed the need for an increase in healthcare spending, suggesting a rise to 10 per cent of the GDP, along with the removal of taxes on health insurance premiums.
Kejriwal also called for an increase in the income tax exemption limit from Rs 7 lakh to Rs 10 lakh, citing the heavy financial burden on the middle class.
Another demand was the removal of GST on essential goods, which Kejriwal argued disproportionately affects middle-class households. He also advocated for more robust retirement plans, including free healthcare for senior citizens in both private and government hospitals.
Additionally, he urged the central government to reinstate the 50 per cent concession on train fares for senior citizens, which was discontinued in recent years.
Kejriwal criticised political parties for reducing the middle class to what he described as a “slave mindset” since independence. He pledged that AAP MPs would raise the voice of the middle class in upcoming parliamentary sessions, vowing to make their issues a central focus of the political discourse.
The announcement comes just weeks before the Delhi Assembly elections scheduled for February 5, with results to be declared on February 8.
The Aam Aadmi Party, which won 62 of the 70 assembly seats in 2020, is seeking a third consecutive term.
In a joint press statement, BJP MPs Kamaljeet Sehrawat and Praveen Khandelwal charged that every word uttered by Kejriwal in the video showed how “manipulative” he is.
“Kejriwal knows that he is losing support in every section of the society therefore after totally neglecting the middle class of the society in AAP’s more than 11 years of rule in Delhi is now talking about the middle class,” the BJP MPs said.
The AAP government in Delhi forced traders to pay higher electricity bills charging commercial rates from them and did nothing to ensure a better working atmosphere for youth in Delhi, they charged. (PTI)
