NEW DELHI: After much delay, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday officially launched its Lok Sabha election campaign. Titled ‘Jail Ka Jawab Vote Se’, the campaign seeks public support through votes over arrest of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with alleged liquor policy scam.
Addressing a press conference, AAP national general secretary Sandeep Pathak alleged,”The nation saw how Prime Minister Narendra Modi hatched a conspiracy against Arvind Kejriwal and got him arrested to eliminate him from (campaigning in) the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.”
“It is for the first time that a sitting chief minister has been put behind bars right before the polls to stop him from campaigning,” he added.
Announcing the ‘Jail ka Jawab, Vote se’ campaign, Pathak said, “We need not avenge this arrest by any other means but through our votes. We appeal to all citizens to join our movement and help us raise awareness that it is important to lend strength to Kejriwal.”
“We will turn our struggle into a campaign,” he said, adding the entire election campaign of the AAP will centre around the “Jail Ka Jawab Vote Se” slogan.
The AAP’s Delhi unit convenor Gopal Rai said it is now the responsibility of the people who love Kejriwal to work for him. “He has never let down the honour of the people of Delhi. The BJP’s dictatorial government has sent him to Tihar Jail, but it is now the duty of Delhi to protect his honour for the work he has done for all of us,” he added.
AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh appealed to the people to remember Kejriwal’s face while voting in the Lok Sabha polls.
“Your son has been put behind bars by a dictator. Your son, your brother, and the most popular chief minister whom you, the people of Delhi, elected three times in a row with a huge majority.
“Tell me... do you think you will get the facilities if he does not come back as your chief minister? If he is not there, would you get free electricity, water, treatment, healthcare facilities, bus tickets, and pilgrimage? That is why we are saying, ‘Jail ke taale tootenge, Kejriwal chhootenge’ (Locks of jails will break and Kejriwal will come out),” he stressed.
Contesting the Lok Sabha polls in alliance with the Congress, the AAP has fielded candidates on four seats --New Delhi, East Delhi, South Delhi and West Delhi. The Congress is contesting the remaining three seats in the national capital. All seven seats of the Delhi will go to polls on May 25 in single phase.