Ashutosh defends AAP over farmer's suicide, fake degree issue

Surat, May 1: Aam Aadmi Party leader Ashutosh on Friday, May 1 claimed that the allegations against Delhi Law Minister Jitender Tomar, of holding a fake degree, were baseless.

Ashutosh also denied ever having spoken to the Rajasthan- based farmer Gajendra Singh who committed suicide at AAP's rally in Delhi.

"That (about Tomar's degree) is a fraud case. It is baseless. BJP and Congress are terribly scared and therefore they are making allegations against our honest MLAs and ministers...However, this is a sub-judice issue and the court will decide it soon," he said, speaking to reporters here.

Asked about the suicide by Singh at the Delhi rally, Ashutosh said, "he (Gajendra) had never talked to me personally.

"When there is a rally, there are many enthusiastic workers. Sometimes (media) cameramen also hang onto a tree to take a good picture," he said, when asked how a man could climb a tree by himself amid a big crowd.

"AAP is a party which is most sensitive towards the farmers as we gave a compensation of Rs 10 lakh, while others have given petty amounts like Rs 300 or Rs 700. We are the only party which gave a compensation of Rs 10 lakh (to Singh's kin)," he said.

Big plans for Gujarat

"After a stunning victory in Delhi, we are now eyeing Gujarat. The magic of Delhi will be repeated in Gujarat. We need to strengthen our cadre in Gujarat upto the booth-level,"he said.

"We need to reach out to each and every citizen of Gujarat and tell them that the way our government in Delhi is functioning, no other government in India can compete with it," he added.

The AAP leader said that the BJP-led Union Government had not a single achievement under its belt.

PTI