New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal hosted a sanitation worker from Gujarat and his family over lunch at his residence here on Monday and said people shower their love on the AAP as it works for them.
During a town hall meeting with safai karamcharis in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad on Sunday, Kejriwal had invited Harsh Solanki and his family for lunch at his Delhi residence.
Solanki also visited the Delhi government’s Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya in West Vinod Nagar, a government hospital and a mohalla clinic.
Later, he met Kejriwal at his residence and gifted him a portrait of B R Ambedkar.
“I had the honour of hosting Harsh Solanki and his family. Our guests from Gujarat and our families had lunch together. We don’t have time for petty politics, we work for the public, that’s why the public likes us,” the chief minister told reporters.
“I thank them (the Solanki family) for travelling so far and giving us an opportunity to host them. I will go to their house to have a meal with them when I visit Ahmedabad again,” he said.
Asserting that it was the public that helped them form the governments in Delhi and Punjab, Kejriwal said now, the people of Gujarat are saying an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government is going to be formed in their state too.
“We don’t have time for petty politics. We work for the public. We build schools, hospitals and roads for the people. That’s why the public likes us. People do not like the politics of division. They want their voice to be heard and we do that,” he said.
Solanki said it was a proud moment for him to be hosted by a leader of a political party.
“For the first time in 75 years, a leader has invited a Dalit to have a meal at his residence. When I invited Shri Arvind Kejriwal to have a meal at my place, not only he accepted my invitation cordially but to my surprise, he invited me to have a meal at his residence first. I am having a wonderful experience,” he said.
Solanki also lauded the facilities at the Delhi government-run school, hospital and mohalla clinic.
“I am yet to believe that it is not a dream but reality. When I go back to Gujarat, I will tell people about the development brought by the Kejriwal government in Delhi,” he said.
During his meeting with Kejriwal, Solanki told the chief minister he wanted to visit a Valmiki temple in the national capital. He was assured that appropriate arrangements for a convenient visit to a Valmiki temple for his family would be made before they leave for Gujarat.