'Arvind Advertisement Party', Congress slams AAP for spending 36 cr on ads in poll-bound Gujarat

New Delhi: Sharpening its attack on the Aam Aadmi Party in the run up to the Gujarat assembly polls, the Congress on Tuesday accused the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP of getting its Punjab government to spend on advertisements, calling it the "Arvind Advertisement Party". The Congress alleged that the Bhagwant Mann-led Punjab government is unable to pay the salaries of employees but spent Rs 36 crore in two months on advertisements in Gujarat. Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters here, Congress leader Ajoy Kumar said the AAP should be called the Arvind Advertisement Party, Arvind Actors Party and Arvind Aish Party for indulging in advertisement politics and corruption.

"In 2015, the AAP spent Rs 81 crore on advertisement through TV and print. In 2017-18, Rs 117 crore; in 2019, Rs 200 crore; in 21-22, about Rs 490 crore. Under Sheila Dikshit's Delhi government, the advertisement budget was Rs 11 crore," Kumar said.

आम आदमी पार्टी विज्ञापन के माध्यम से देश में अपना खूब झूठा प्रचार कर रही है।

पिछले दो महीने में पंजाब सरकार ने गुजरात के अंदर ₹36 करोड़ के विज्ञापन दिए हैं लेकिन पंजाब में तनख्वाह देने के लिए इनके पास पैसे नहीं हैं : श्री @drajoykumar pic.twitter.com/lR0WLFKdFG — Congress (@INCIndia) September 13, 2022

Kumar said the Punjab government is unable to pay salaries, but TV channel owners are happy, especially in Gujarat, because Mann has spent 36 crores in two months on advertisements in Gujarat. He alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi spent Rs 19 crore on advertisements on a scheme of education loan for students, but gave scholarships to only two students.

Kumar asked if the Kejriwal government's policy was so successful then why the number of students was rising in private schools. The pass percentage under the Sheila Dikshit government in Delhi was 90 per cent which has now come down to 81 per cent, the Congress leader claimed. While in Punjab, two lakh students have dropped out of schools since the AAP came to power, he claimed.

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Kumar said the AAP government was just inaugurating infrastructure projects started by the Sheila Dikshit government. He also accused the AAP of indulging in corruption through the Delhi liquor policy. "On a Rs 350 liquor bottle, the government used to get Rs 223 in tax, the great Kejriwal has reduced that to Rs 1.9 and said this is the world's best policy. Please understand the corruption, if you have ensured such a profit to private players where is the money going? It is going in Gujarat polls, Himachal polls, in their minister's pocket, in his home," he alleged. Kumar also asked if the AAP was following the RSS' ideology.

(With agency inputs)