A day after his release on an interim bail, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal with wife Sunita by his side along with Punjab chief Minister Bhagwant Mann offered prayers at the Hanuman Temple in Connaught Place in Delhi before heading to the party office.
Kejriwal along with top party leaders, Bhagwant Mann, Sanjay Singh, Sandeep Pathak, Atishi, Saurabh Bhardwaj and Imran Hussain, launched a scathing attack on the BJP. After offering prayers at the Hanuman Temple, Kejriwal said it is because of the blessings of Lord Hanuman that he is amongst people again. “Our party is just 10 years old. In 10 years, we have formed governments in two states. Yet, the prime minister has left no stone unturned to crush AAP”. He said, “At one point, they sent four of our party’s top leaders in jail. When four top leaders are behind bars at the same time, any party is crushed. They had thought that the party will be over, however, this is not a party, it is an ideology”.
The AAP office was flooded with supporters and media personnel, with some even from abroad. The atmosphere mimicked that of an election victory with the mood upbeat, sloganeering, with aloo puri and halwa being served to supporters.
The chief minister claimed that the Prime Minister knew that in the times to come, it is only the AAP that can challenge the BJP. “When you don’t do work and seek to crush the AAP instead, it is not democracy. In 75 years, no leaders of any other party have been targeted so much as the AAP”. Kejriwal then questioned the anti-corruption plank of the BJP. “The country’s most corrupt have been included in your party (BJP), given posts of chief minister and deputy chief minister and you claim to be fighting against corruption?”
Continuing his attack on the BJP, the AAP chief said, “Modi ji has started a very dangerous Mission and that is ‘One Nation, One Leader’ by extinguishing the political career of opposition leaders by sending them to jail. If they win the elections, not that I believe that that they will, you can take it from me in the form of an affidavit that after a few days, they will put Mamata Banerjee, Tejaswi Yadav, Stalin and his ministers, Pinarayi Vijayan in jail”.
Kejriwal did not stop there. Seeking to capitalise on the internal power equations within the BJP, the chief minister claimed that they (the PM) have extinguished the political career of Advani, Murli Mohan Joshi, Shivraj Singh Chauhan, who won them the elections. “The next target will be Yogi Adityanath. If they win elections, they will finish Yogi Adityanath in two months”.
With slogans of “Tanashahi ka ek ki kaal/ Kejriwal Kejriwal”, emblazoned in some placards that supporters were holding, Kejriwal said, “Today, one tanashah is trying to capture the country. I am begging 140 crore people to save this country from this tanashah. I am fighting with everything that I have”.
Kejriwal then sought to answer a question that the BJP has been asking the opposition in these elections – “who is your prime ministerial candidate?” “These people are asking the INDIA Gathbandhan who will be your Prime Ministerial candidate? I want to ask the BJP instead, who will be your Prime Ministerial candidate? Next year, on September 17, the Prime Minister will turn 75. Modi ji himself has made the rule that the retirement age is 75 years. Modi ji will retire next year on September 17”. The Delhi Chief Minister then said, “Modi ji is asking for votes not for himself but for Amit Shah. Who will fulfil Modi ji’s guarantee? Will Amit Shah fulfil Modi ji’s guarantee?”
Claiming that the BJP is not getting more than 220 to 230 seats, AAP’s top communicator and strategist said the next government will be that of the INDIA bloc. “In many states, the number of seats is declining. The satta bazaar is also betting on 220 -230 seats. In the centre, the INDIA gathbandhan will form the government with the support of AAP. And we will win full statehood for Delhi”.
The chief minister sought to clear the air on why he has not resigned despite being behind the bars. “When I was in jail, people raised the issue of why was I not resigning from the post of the chief minister. I don’t have any lust for any post. When I was the Income Tax Commissioner, I gave it up to work in the slums for many years. When the people of Delhi made me the chief minister for the first time, I had resigned after 49 days because I could not fulfil my promises. The post of the chief minister has no meaning for me”. Kejriwal then explained, “Why did I not resign? In 75 years, elections have happened in so many states. Yet, it was Delhi that gave the AAP a historic mandate with 67 and 62 seats. They know that they cannot defeat us for the next 20 years in Delhi. They hatched a conspiracy to put Kejriwal in jail and force him to resign. I also made up my mind not to resign. If you imprison democracy, then democracy will run from jail. Even Hemant Soren also should not have resigned. He also should have run the government from jail. By not resigning, I am fighting against ‘tanashahi’”.
The AAP office was chock-a-bloc with supporters and media personnel. Kejriwal’s speech gave an indication of his strategy in the Lok Sabha Elections of attempting to puncture the big claims of the BJP especially on corruption, crafting issues out of BJP’s internal power dynamics, defending himself and echoing the Opposition’s attack on the BJP of ‘democracy under threat’.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said in Punjab, Congress and BJP will be wiped out and the AAP will win all 13 seats. Interspersed his speech with the slogans in the placards of volunteers, ‘tanashah ka ek hi kaal/ Kejriwal, Kejriwal’, which is a change from ‘brashtachar ka ek hi kaal/ Kejriwal, Kejriwal’, ‘pachees mayi / BJP gayi’, ‘BJP ka bura haal/ Bahar aa gaye Kejriwal’, Mann claimed that on June 4, without the AAP, INDIA alliance cannot form the government “. Targeting the Prime Minister, Mann said, “If after 10 years of work, the PM has to ask for votes in the name of Mangalsutra, it is a shame”.
Later in the day, Kejriwal along with Mann led a road show in the South Delhi constituency in support of the AAP candidate Sahiram Pehalwan. This was Kejriwal’s first campaign after getting out of jail. The narrow lanes of Mehrauli overflowed with AAP supporters waving the party’s yellow-blue flags, banners, posters with ‘Jail Ka Jawab Vote Se’, and the trademark song ‘Rang De Basanti Chola’ blaring from loud speakers.
Pehalwan was on a makeshift state with AAP minister Saurabh Bhardwaj, MLA Rituraj Jha and others. One person could be seen holding a framed picture of the Preamble of the Constitution. As soon as the vehicle carrying Kejriwal and Mann rolled in, AAP supporters as well as local people strained and jostled to catch a glimpse of the Delhi Chief Minister who was behind bars for 50 days.
Ashish Jain, a shopkeeper, said, “Modi ji will win. He has done a lot of work. He has removed Article 370. It will be only the BJP. There is no takkar for BJP”. Sanjeev, a middle-class professional, said, “This is the Lok Sabha elections. In how many seats is he fighting? It is better to vote for national parties, either Congress or BJP”.
Munni Devi and Veena said they will vote for Kejriwal no matter what the consequences. “We will make our brother Kejriwal win. Since 5 to 6 years, bus rides are free. You can travel anywhere. Water is free, electricity is free. We get medicines in Mohalla clinics which are free. He has provided us with lots of benefits. Modi ji may have done good work outside, in Delhi it is Kejriwal”.
Another resident, Dr Shyam said he had faith in Modi. “What Modi has done the Congress and the rest of the parties put together cannot do it. Whether it is internal security or external threats. In Mehrauli, there have been bomb blasts in front of me and I have dealt with those patients. After Modi, there is peace”.
However, all of them agreed that Kejriwal getting out on bail at this juncture will impact the outcome of the elections. While Munni Devi and Veena said it will “definitely impact” the results, Dr Shyam and Sanjeev said it will have “some impact”. Veena said, “His coming out on the interim bail will definitely impact the public. Even if they had not let him out, even then Kejriwal would have come because he has worked for development, given respect to women and old people…he is a krantiveer”.
Last week, the chief minister’s wife Sunita Kejriwal had led a road show in Tughlakabad where AAP’s Pehalwan is pitted against BJP’s Ramvir Bidhuri. At the end of the show, Kejriwal said that he had missed the people of Delhi during his jail tenure, and appealed to them to defeat ‘tanashahi’ and promised an INDIA alliance government of which AAP will be a part and full statehood for Delhi — everything that he has said at the party office a few hours ago. The duo then moved to the East Delhi constituency for their second road show in the day.
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