Free travel for women 'desperate bid to buy votes': Manoj Tiwari

The BJP's Delhi unit chief Manoj Tiwari Monday alleged that the AAP government's proposal to make metro and bus travel in Delhi free for women is a "desperate bid to buy votes". Kejriwal is making such announcements because he is fast losing ground in Delhi, he said.

"It seems he's lost his mind... 'Shoshana mantra' (announcement minister) has made another announcement to make people laugh... he made 70 promises and all are lies," Tiwari told reporters. "After the tight slap of defeat, he started the process for implementing 10 per cent reservation for economically weaker sections. He's making such announcements to hold on to his ground in Delhi. It's a desperate bid to buy votes," the Delhi BJP chief said.

After the loss in all the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, Kejriwal is apprehensive of losing his support base ahead of the Assembly elections, Tiwari said but made it clear that he is not against giving free rides to women in buses and the Delhi Metro. "We are not against the idea. There is no problem in giving free rides to women, but where are the buses? The AAP is befooling people," he alleged.

Tiwari also said that the BJP's Delhi unit has plans to give free rides to all in government buses, but "we will not make any tall promises". Attacking the Kejriwal government over "insufficient" number of buses in the city, he said, "Around one crore women in the city will need 20,000 buses, but we have just 3,500-3,800. Where will they sit?"

The AAP government had also promised to deploy marshals and install panic buttons in DTC buses, but failed to deliver on its promise, he said. The Delhi BJP chief claimed that Kejriwal will make many more such announcements to "ensnare gullible people. He has lost his mental balance. People should be cautious of him".

People need to support the BJP against the "nakampanthi (failure) and divide and rule" policy of the Kejriwal government, he said. "Can he do in three months what he failed to do in 52 months? In five years, Modi has become synonymous with faith and confidence, while Kejriwal has become a curse," Tiwari alleged.

Free bus travel for everyone can be ensured but it needs planning, he said, adding first electric buses need to be brought in to curb pollution. Delhi BJP leader and former Union minister Vijay Goel alleged that Kejriwal was trying to mislead the people of Delhi by offering free travel to women in metro and buses.

"After the drubbing in all the seven parliamentary seats in Delhi, Kejriwal is trying to lure voters offering free rides in metro and DTC buses for women to hoodwink them in view of the assembly elections scheduled early next year in Delhi," he alleged. "Why he did not do anything for the safety and security of women in the city in the last four-and-a-half years?" Goel asked, adding about three million people travel in the metro, of which 9 lakh are women.

There are poor people in the city who deserve subsidy more than women, he said. Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta said the Delhi government's assertion that it will take six months to implement the proposal for providing free ridership to women passengers "underlines the fact that the proposal is nothing more than an election gimmick".

"It cannot be overlooked that Kejriwal put obstacles in the implementation of Phase IV of the Delhi Metro and failed to buy even a single DTC bus during the last four-and-a-half years. Now, there is no point in shedding crocodile tears," he said. The AAP's vote share in the capital dipped alarmingly in the Lok Sabha polls, from 33 per cent in 2014 to 18.1 per cent this time.