Summary Delhi had no government for a year after Kejriwal quit as state chief minister last February
NEW DELHI (AFP) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stepped up an offensive against Delhi opponent and anti-graft campaigner Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday, a week before India s capital holds state elections.
The state, which has some 13 million eligible voters, heads to the polls on February 7, with results due on February 10.
Delhi has been without a government for almost a year after self-styled "anarchist" Kejriwal quit as state chief minister last February, just 49 days after taking power.
He is now again seeking the capital s top post, with most opinion polls showing him in the lead ahead of the candidate for Modi s right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), former high-ranking policewoman Kiran Bedi.
Modi made Kejriwal the main target of Saturday s campaign speech, blasting him as a "backstabber" who "committed the sin of wasting a year in Delhi".
"A year ago, Delhi voted with a hope, a dream. But the people you voted for stabbed you in the back and shattered all your dreams," said Modi, who came to national power with a landslide election victory in May.
Kejriwal s Aam Aadmi (Common Man) Party made a spectacular debut in state elections in December 2013, but he quit Delhi s top post in a row over an anti-corruption bill -- a decision he has since said he regretted.
The upstart party flopped in May s general election, but Kejriwal once again represents the major obstacle to the BJP s electoral hopes in Delhi.
Modi s attack came hours after Kejriwal s party unveiled a 70-point election manifesto vowing affordable electricity, free wifi across Delhi and the installation of a million CCTV cameras in the city, which has been dubbed India s "rape capital".
Modi has not yet released his party manifesto, but he used Saturday s speech to highlight government initiatives including better housing for slum-dwellers, cash subsidies for cooking gas and creating jobs in manufacturing.
The premier also promised Delhi voters round-the-clock electricity when he kicked off his party s campaign in the capital earlier this month.
