Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India], July 20 (HBTV): Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma on Saturday criticised Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over his recent comment that he deserves a Nobel Prize for governance.

‘The people have already given him a Nobel Prize. Everyone knows about his deeds. Working while running such a big racket is a significant thing,’ Sharma remarked.

The Deputy CM’s statement followed Kejriwal’s comment at a book launch, where he stated that he deserved a Nobel Prize for governance.

Kejriwal made the remark during the launch of the Punjabi edition of the book Kejriwal Model, authored by AAP leader Jasmine Shah and published by Unistar Books.

At the event, Kejriwal reflected on his political journey—beginning with the launch of the anti-corruption NGO Parivartan in 2000, through the Anna Hazare-led movement, and culminating in the formation of the Aam Aadmi Party.

‘On 26 November 2012, we applied to register AAP. Everyone from the media to intellectuals said we’d lose our deposits in every seat. But in December 2013, we won 28 seats in Delhi,’ Kejriwal recalled.

He stressed that the Kejriwal Model was built not in boardrooms but in Delhi’s slums, where he lived and worked for a decade. ‘We saw firsthand how bad the condition of government schools, hospitals, and electricity was,’ he said.

Kejriwal also spoke about his early activism, including hunger strikes and reconnecting electricity poles, which he said were prompted by outrage over high utility bills and poor services. ‘We entered government with a simple aim — to ensure every family gets 200 units of free electricity and 20,000 litres of free water. Governance should guarantee basic needs.’

He stated that the model relies entirely on honesty. ‘If a government is corrupt, if its ministers are looting, this model will collapse,’ Kejriwal said, adding that AAP had implemented the same model in Punjab. ‘Previous governments claimed the treasury was empty. But we fixed schools and hospitals and gave free electricity because we curbed corruption and saved public money.’

Criticising the BJP-led administration in Delhi, he said services had deteriorated after AAP left office. ‘Mohalla Clinics are being shut down, free medicines and tests discontinued, roads are broken, and 6-hour power cuts are back.’

He also accused BJP leaders of prioritising profit over public service. ‘They’re not here to serve but to profit. We were obstructed every step of the way, yet we delivered. I should get a Nobel Prize in administration for working despite the LG’s constant interference.’

Kejriwal reiterated that winning elections was not his primary objective. ‘My goal was to create a model and change the mindset — to prove that public schools, hospitals, electricity, and water can be fixed with the right intent.’ 

(ANI)