Ahead of the Gujarat assembly elections later this year, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal interacted with the auto-rickshaw drivers, businessmen and attorneys in three separate town hall-sessions on Monday, September 12, 2022 in Ahmedabad city. The national convener of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Kejriwal arrived in the city on Sunday night to participate in a range of public events and meet with the regional party leaders.
While addressing the auto-rickshaw drivers, Kejriwal promised that RTO services would be delivered to the doorstep, if the AAP gets elected to power in the upcoming assembly elections. Further, he claimed that the auto-rickshaw drivers had a significant role in the AAP’s victory in Delhi’s assembly elections.
The national convener of the party guaranteed to stop corruption in RTOs and ensured to protect auto-rickshaw drivers from harassment while speaking to the auto-rickshaw drivers in the public event. Additionally, he said that during the pandemic-induced lockdown, his government in Delhi had paid INR 5,000 each to nearly 1.5 lakh drivers twice.
The policy will prevent bribery and would help the auto-rickshaw drivers save money.
In addition, Kejriwal claimed that auto-rickshaw drivers would enjoy the same free, high-quality services for health and education as Delhi residents.
Arvind Kejriwal also promised to provide new attorneys in Gujarat with a monthly stipend and a robust protection system if the AAP established its government following the elections, scheduled in December this year.
Kejriwal said that he will research the Kerala government’s programme to offer a monthly stipend to young attorneys and will develop a system superior to the southern state while speaking with a group of attorneys in Ahmedabad today. According to Delhi’s model, he promised to provide free energy to lawyers’ in courtrooms. He also claimed to develop a ‘liberal policy’ in response to the need for health and life insurance coverage among lawyers.
As for the traders and businessmen, he said that AAP would simplify the processes for doing business and will ensure corruption-free administration. He assured of offering a VAT amnesty scheme for all the dues and said that VAT and GST will be refunded within a span of six months when coming to power.
He also stressed that there was a need to simplify GST and its rates.
Quoting the Supreme Court’s recent decision on the GST Council, he clarified that the recommendations of the GST Council are not binding either on the Union or on the states. The ‘recommendations’ of the GST Council are the product of a collaborative dialogue involving the Union and States. He reiterated that these decisions could have a constitutional, legal and administrative implication on the states.
