Filled with energy and high political spirit ever since he walked out from Tihar Jail on Saturday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal while addressing his enthused party workers launched a scathing attack at the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of crushing his and other Opposition parties. Kejriwal, who has launched his Lok Sabha campaign for the May 25 Delhi schedule, alleged that the BJP is on a mission to bring about dictatorship in the country.
Besides the “one nation, one leader” jibe, the AAP convenor also accused the BJP of shielding corrupt leaders and asked them if they would live up to the rule of retirement at the age of 75 that was brought about by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Kejriwal further claimed that the Prime Minister wants Amit Shah to succeed is his acknowledgement that the party is set to retain power for a third straight term.
At the same time Kejriwal also asserted the BJP will not return to power and said the INDIA Bloc will form the Government on June 4. “In the last 20 hours after release from jail, I talked to poll experts and people and got to know the BJP is not going to form the Government. The AAP will be part of the Government at the Centre. We will get full Statehood for Delhi and it shall have a people’s Governor, not a man from Gujarat,” he said, while adding that according to his assessment that the BJP is not getting more than 220-230 seats.
Earlier in the morning, Kejriwal along with his wife Sunita and Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann offered prayers at the Hanuman temple in central Delhi’s Connaught Place.
Hours after the visit, the Chief Minister posted on X about his temple visit. Reciting a verse from Hanuman Chalisa, “Sab sukh lahe tumhari sarna, tum rakshak kahu ko darr na”, he said in the post in Hindi, “Reached the ancient Hanuman temple in Connaught Place and received the blessings of Hanuman ji. I prayed to Mahadev in Shiva temple and worshiped Shanidev Maharaj. I prayed to God for happiness and prosperity of the country and to give strength to free the country from dictatorship. God bless everyone.”
“The BJP sent four of our top leaders to jail - Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh and Satyendar Jain. This was an attempt by them to crush us. PM Modi wants to crush the AAP because he knows that we can bring about a bright future for the country. All Opposition leaders including West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Stalin, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and RJD leader Tejashvi Yadav, will be in jail if BJP wins Lok Sabha polls,” Kejriwal said addressing media, a first after his release on bail in the multi crore liquor scam.
Kejriwal claimed that PM Modi has not spared his own party’s popular leader and will remove Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Aditynath from his post if the saffron party wins again. “Modi ji has a very dangerous plan - the plan of One Nation One Leader. He doesn’t want anyone else to be popular. If they win the Lok Sabha polls, they will change the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in two months. They have tried to crush all the popular leaders in their party. Look at Vasundhara Raje and Shivraj Singh Chauhan. I am sure that Yogi Adityanath is the next,” he added.
Party workers and supporters gathered in big numbers to welcome Kejriwal after he was granted an interim bail by the Supreme Court till June 1. A supporter was seen standing on the tree at the office with the picture of Bhagat Singh and a copy of the Constitution of India shouting the slogan “Jail k tale toot gaye, Kejriwal choot gaye”. Many others adorned party flags and t-shirts that has “I am also Kejriwal” written on them. This was Kejriwal’s first such presser following his release from jail after 50 days.
Further, he said that the reason why he did not resign from Chief Minister’s post was because he didn’t want to give in to the ‘dirty politics’ of BJP.
“I don’t have any love for posts. When I became the Chief Minister for the first time, I resigned within 49 days. However, everyone keeps asking as to why I never resigned when I was arrested? The AAP has won in Delhi with unprecedented margins. They know they cannot defeat us even for the next 20 years. They conspired so that I would resign and the AAP Govt will fall. I said that I won’t resign and will run the government from jail,” he said while adding that even former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren shouldn’t have resigned.
