“Zero Plus Zero is Zero”: Amit Shan Dismisses Delhi’s AAP-Cong Coalition

In response to the AAP’s partnership with the Congress in Delhi for the Lok Sabha elections, Home Minister Amit Shah said on Monday that “nothing is going to happen because zero plus zero remains zero,” regardless of whether the Arvind Kejriwal-led party merges or forms an alliance with the Congress.

In Delhi, where the BJP won all seven Lok Sabha seats in the elections of 2014 and 2019, neither the AAP nor the Congress have a seat. Shah said, “You can keep making alliances, but Prime Minister Modi will come back to power with over 400 seats.”

The Delhi public has consistently shown a desire for a “honest government,” according to the Aam Aadmi Party, which responded angrily to the home minister’s outburst.

It said that they would guarantee the BJP’s defeat in the next Lok Sabha elections and give Arvind Kejriwal more support in the legislature. While inaugurating Dilli Gramodaya Abhiyan, which would provide a piped natural gas supply line in 41 villages and developmental works in 178 villages in the national capital, Shah criticized the AAP. Lt. Governor of Delhi, V. K. Saxena and Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Puri, joined him.

In reference to the alliance between the two parties in Delhi, Gujarat, and Haryana, Shah said, “Whether you have an alliance with the Congress or even merge with it, nothing is going to happen because zero plus zero remains zero.”

He also attacked Kejriwal, saying that while he became powerful by opposing the Congress’s corruption and deceptions, he is now siding with the party.

Politicians may be divided into two categories: those who follow through on their promises and those who go the other way. There are both kinds of individuals in Delhi. The home minister said, “One is Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who hasn’t done anything that he claimed, and the other is Narendra Modi. He predicted that the Congress-AAP coalition would fail.

“You were seated in the Congress’ lap—the very same organization you had condemned as being corrupt. You are admitting that Congress is crooked. Shah said, “You can keep forming alliances, but Prime Minister Modi will return with over 400 seats.”

Kejriwal was also targeted by Shah, who said that he was complicit in a “series of scams.” “The Education Minister’s imprisonment for her role in an excise scheme is a first. Although you had declared that you would neither enter politics nor hold the position of chief minister, you ended up holding the position three times. Although you had promised not to use the facilities, you did just that—you constructed a “sheeshmahal.” Do you claim to be “kattar imaandar”? stated Shah.

Manish Sisodia, the former deputy chief minister and holder of the education portfolio, was detained in February of last year on suspicion of involvement in an excise policy case.

Following his detention, he submitted his resignation to the Delhi government. Shah said that by keeping all of his campaign pledges, Prime Minister Modi has created a new culture in the nation over the last ten years.

“Prime Minister Modi built 14 crore toilets, more than three crore houses, gave five kg of free food grains per person per month, and gave LPG cylinders to 13 crore mothers nationwide. He also provided tap water to 14 crore homes, piped gas to one crore people, and more.” He said that Modi has gained the confidence of the people by striving to realise their goals.

The nation is moving forward today with renewed confidence to become fully developed and self-reliant by 2047 because Modi has created an atmosphere of new zeal, optimism, and enthusiasm by keeping every promise, Shah said. This includes the implementation of the CAA and the abolition of instant triple talaq.

The fact that 41 villages now have piped natural gas service and that different development projects worth Rs 383 crore under the Dilli Gramodaya Abhiyan have started in 178 villages is a significant day for rural Delhi, he added.

The AAP retaliated to Shah’s accusations by stating that “dharma” and “adharma” are running for office.

“On the one hand, the Aam Aadmi Party is fighting for issues that are important to people, and on the other hand, the BJP is putting up barriers and getting in the way of any plan we propose to improve the lives of Delhi’s citizens,” the party said.

Voting against the 15 “years of misrule of the BJP,” Delhi voters expressed their preferences three times in the Vidhan Sabha elections and the most recent MCD elections.

“The Delhi public has become wise to the BJP’s strategies of inducting new faces ahead of elections in order to evade public accountability,” the statement said.

“Where were the BJP Members of Parliament when the GNCTD Act stole the rights of the people of Delhi? Have you ever heard BJP Members of Parliament express concern that while Delhi’s hardworking and honest inhabitants pay some of the highest taxes in the nation, the BJP does not provide Delhi with a single penny of the nation’s central taxes? said the AAP.