Ashish Sood’s remark that “people from small localities roam around as big national spokespersons” exposes BJP’s mindset: Saurabh Bharadwaj
I am four-time MLA; My victory margin is higher than total votes Ashish Sood received: Sanjeev Jha
Arvind Kejriwal empowers youth from ordinary homes to become MLAs, ministers & councillors, this is what troubles BJP: Jalaj Chaudhary
Ashish Sood’s remark reflects dirty mindset; We are not small people, we are truthful people: Ravinder Bhardwaj
AAP launches ‘BJP Ki Chhoti Soch’ campaign against minister Ashish Sood’s remarks mocking poor
NEW DELHI:
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday launched the ‘BJP Ki Chhoti Soch’ campaign after BJP Education Minister Ashish Sood made remarks mocking the financial background of AAP MLAs Sanjeev Jha and Kuldeep Kumar. As part of the social media campaign, AAP Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj, MLA Sanjeev Jha and several party leaders strongly targeted Ashish Sood and the BJP. The campaign also received strong support from the people of Delhi.
AAP Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj, sharing several campaign videos on social media platform ‘X’, hit back at Minister Ashish Sood and said, “Ashish Sood, we are not ‘chote log’ (small people). We may be poor in terms of money, but we are rich at heart.” He said the minister’s remark that “people from small localities roam around as big national spokespersons” clearly exposes the BJP’s real mindset.
Meanwhile, AAP MLA from Burari, Sanjeev Jha, termed Ashish Sood’s statement extremely unfortunate and said it reflects the BJP’s mentality. “Ashish Sood is suggesting that people win elections from small localities and then roam around as big spokespersons. I represent the Burari Assembly constituency. People there may be poor and may live in kachchi colonies, but they are not small. How can we be smaller than him? Ashish Sood has won an election for the first time, while I have won four times. The number of votes Ashish Sood received is equal to my margin of victory. If you look at the number of terms, I am bigger than him, and even in terms of margin, I am bigger,” he asserted.
Calling out the thinking behind such remarks, he continued, “Is this mentality because Ashish Sood lives in a bungalow that he becomes ‘big’, and people living in kachchi colonies become ‘small’? Are the poor small? Are people living on rent small? Seventy percent of Delhi lives in kachchi colonies. If Ashish Sood considers them small, these very people will show him his real place. Ashish Sood’s remarks insult people from Purvanchal, the poor, and those living in kachchi colonies. This is not one sentence or one incident. In Uttarakhand, a minister’s husband said girls would be brought from Bihar for Rs 25,000 and married off. These are the values of those who talk about ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao.’”
Citing another example, Sanjeev Jha added, “In Ghaziabad, Yogi Adityanath’s police used a so-called machine to declare a resident of Bihar as Bangladeshi, even though he kept saying he was from Araria. This is the BJP’s outlook towards people from Purvanchal and Bihar. This mindset will be responded to by the people at the right time.”
Sharing another video on X, the AAP MLA said, “We live in kachchi colonies, but we are not small people.” In the video, an AAP ‘karyakarta’ said that Education Minister Ashish Sood has become so arrogant after winning the election and getting a ministerial post that he considers public small now, while highlighting the BJP minister’s statement.
AAP councillor from Aman Vihar ward, Ravinder Bhardwaj, said Ashish Sood’s statement shows a deeply regressive mindset. “Ashish Sood should listen carefully, we are not small people, we are truthful people. Saying that people living in unauthorised colonies or small localities are ‘small’ reflects the BJP’s dirty mentality and wrong thinking,” he said, calling the remark extremely unfortunate.
AAP councillor Jalaj Chaudhary said Ashish Sood’s comment reveals his hostility towards ordinary Delhiites. “Ashish Sood has become an MLA for the first time, while the people he is targeting are four-time popular MLAs who win by lakhs of votes. This small-minded thinking shows how much hatred the BJP has towards people living in villages and colonies,” he said, adding that “after the Aam Aadmi Party came, Arvind Kejriwal empowered people from colonies and villages by making them councillors and MLAs, and that is what hurts the BJP.”