Promising to clear the value-added-tax (VAT) refund backlog in five months if his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was voted to power in the state, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has asked industrialists and traders to suggest other issues to include in the manifesto.

Industrialists have told him they need more exhibition halls and better air connectivity, and he agreed to look into those demands. “Within a month of forming the government, the AAP will make a policy for timely VAT refund to the traders,” said Kejriwal, claiming that his state government in Delhi had reduced VAT on wood, marble, and granite from 12.5 to 5%.

Kejriwal, who had more than 3,000 people listening to him at Guru Nanak Bhawan in Ludhiana, accused police of being “pawns” in the government hands. Replying to a query about police highhandedness, Kejriwal said that he, too, was a victim of the “government’s gundagardi (bullying)”. “We, too, have false cases against us. Whoever raises his voice in Punjab is booked. Wait for six months; we will take back all these cases,” said the AAP leader.

Citing the Malerkotla sacrilege case in Punjab against Delhi legislator Naresh Yadav, Kejriwal said it was misuse of police and, if voted in, his party would put an end to it. “I am happy that people have started raising their voice, knowing that the (Parkash Singh) Badal government is here only for six more months.”

Traders from Patiala, Mandi Gobindgarh, Moga, and Bathinda brought their grievances to Kejriwal. The packed 810-seat auditorium had 500-odd people waiting at the door, and many more standing outside.

If the Aam Aadmi Party wins Punjab, its national convener Arvind Kejriwal says chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and his family will lose all its illegal businesses. “They have monopolised transport, liquor, sand-mining, cable television, and hotel businesses in the state. We will take these from their clutches and give away to jobless youth,” said Kejriwal.