NEW DELHI: AAP national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said he has been discussing with party MPs and MLAs on whether he should resign from his government post or he should run the government from jail in case he is arrested in connection with the ongoing probe into the alleged liquor scam.
“I don’t have lust for power. I resigned from the post on the 49th day. Nobody asked for my resignation. But we have to ensure that we don’t get trapped in BJP’s conspiracies,” Kejriwal said, urging his party workers to take the city people’s opinion on the issue.
“Go to every house in Delhi and take people’s opinion; tell people about the conspiracies of the BJP. But BJP should not get one Lok Sabha seat from Delhi this time, even if I am in jail,” Kejriwal said.
Addressing a congregation of AAP workers (karyakarta sammelan), Kejriwal came down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the “fake” liquor policy scam case, alleging that he wants to topple the AAP government in the national capital and replace it with a BJP government.“PM Modi cannot defeat AAP in Delhi in his lifetime,” Kejriwal claimed.
“There is no liquor scam in Delhi. Liquor scams are there in Gujarat and Haryana. But the BJP has understood that it can’t win an election against the AAP unless it puts the top AAP leaders in jail. But today I am telling you to arrest me.AAP will win from jail,” Kejriwal said.The AAP national convener said the BJP knows it cannot defeat the AAP in Delhi and that is why it is “hatching conspiracies” and putting AAP leaders in jail.
“Four of our leaders are in jail today. They are an inspiration. Don’t be scared of going to jail. If Sanjay Singh and Manish Sisodia leave AAP today, they will be out of jail within 24 hours,” he alleged.
He alleged that the BJP had plans to target leaders from different regional parties leading up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in an attempt to derail their election campaign.
“They have plans to put me in jail to ensure that AAP cannot campaign in Lok Sabha polls. They have planned something similar in Bihar, West Bengal and Jharkhand. But I challenge you, put these leaders behind bars and you might just be cleaned up,” he said.
He knows there’s enough evidence against him: BJP
Criticizing Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over his speech on Friday, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdev said that people of Delhi have realised that AAP is the fastest growing corruption factory. He alleged that Kejriwal had left all parties behind in corruption and nepotism. “People of Delhi are asking if Kejriwal did the liquor scam, jal board scam, and dozens of other scams or if he built his palatial bungalow with their approval,” Sachdeva said. “Kejriwal said that he would run the government from jail. It seems he is convinced that agencies have strong evidence against him, enough to put him behind the bars,” he said.