Dikshit trashes opinion polls, says AAP has no standing

New Delhi: Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Wednesday debunked results of various opinion polls giving some weightage to Aam Admi Party and edge to BJP in the December 4 assembly election, saying their projections do not reflect the ground realities as people are likely to go for Congress which fulfilled their aspirations.

Dikshit, aiming to lead Congress for a fourth straight victory in the polls, said her government has delivered on the promises made to people and ensured inclusive growth through series of forward looking schemes and projects in the city besides scaling up infrastructure commensurate with rise in population. "I do not think the opinion polls reflected the ground reality. How can you say Aam Admi Party will get so many seats when they have not yet come out with their agenda. I do not know on what basis they arrive at conclusion and how credible their figures can be," Dikshit said. When asked whether she was worried about possibility of Arvind Kejriwals`s Aam Admi Party eating into Congress` vote share, the 75-year-old Congress leader rejected such possibility and said people of Delhi will support her party which has performed efficiently in the last 15 years. "The BSP which is an established party had campaigned hard during the last assembly election but it could not achieve much despite Mayawati holding a series of meetings. It is too early to say whether AAP will have any impact or not as people dont even know what it stands for," Dikshit said. "Aam Admi party is not a political party in true sense. Aam party may be a phenomena. But is it a political party? I doubt," she said. "I think people will support us as we carried out an inclusive development model. We ensured welfare of all sections of society. We have worked hard to offer the citizens a better life and our work is not yet complete," she said noting that the main fight in the polls will be between Congress and BJP. Various opinion polls have projected that AAP may eat into Congress` vote share while some polls have given edge to BJP. Asked whether BJP will be able to give better fight to Congress this time compared to 2008, Dikshit said the party was united during the last assembly polls. "It is difficult for me to say what their internal strength is but in 2008 it doesn?t seem to have differences. This time their differences are out in the open," she said. On whether BJP`s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi will have any impact on voters in Delhi, Dikshit replied in negative. "I don`t think Modi will have any impact in the Assembly polls. But as a Prime Ministerial candidate when the Lok Sabha elections take place, that is when his real impact will be seen, not just now," she said. Accusing the opposition parties of misleading people on number of issues including power tariff, Dikshit said people of Delhi know about her performance since Congress came to power in 1998. "We are working hard on our agenda for Delhi which we will present to people soon. We have 15 years of work to show. We can say with humility and with pride that these 15 years have seen Delhi grow and change. But there are many-many things that we need to do," she said. Dikshit said she plans to make Delhi a model city for entrepreneurship and the focus of her Government, if voted to power, will be to launch skill development training for youths in a much bigger scale. "We will also focus on research and innovation," she added. The Chief Minister also criticised opposition parties for "lowering the political discourse" by indulging in personal attacks. "There must be a decorum while attacking each other. We should not cross the limit," she said. Asked whether anti-incumbency of UPA as well as her own government will impact voting in the assembly polls, Dikshit said both the Centre and her dispensation have worked hard to ensure inclusive growth which people are well aware of. Speaking about sound economic growth in the city, she said the average growth rate in the capital was 10.33 per cent in the last five years compared to Gujarat`s 9.51 per cent and national average of 8.03 per cent. Dikshit said Delhi`s gross state domestic product is much higher than many other bigger states like Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Punjab and Jharkhand. As per official figures, GDP of Delhi at current prices has increased to Rs 3.65 lakh crore in 2012-13 from Rs 3.10 lakh crore in 2011-12.