Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, fresh out of Tihar Jail on interim bail, made a powerful pitch to voters during a roadshow today. He suggested that voting for his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) would ensure he doesn’t have to return to jail after his bail period ends on June 1. “I have to go back to jail after 20 days. If you choose jhadu (AAP’s symbol), I won’t have to go back to jail,” Kejriwal told the crowd.
Kejriwal’s release and return to campaigning after 50 days in judicial custody has reenergized the AAP, which had been grappling with multiple challenges. A senior party leader, Saurabh Bhardwaj, claimed it would also be a “gamechanger” for the INDIA opposition bloc.
Wasting no time, the Chief Minister plunged headfirst into campaigning, holding a roadshow in Moti Nagar in support of Somnath Bharti, AAP’s candidate for the New Delhi Lok Sabha seat. He warned the gathering that his potential return to jail would adversely impact the welfare work done by his government.
“If I went back to jail, the BJP would stop your free electricity, degrade schools and shut down hospitals and Mohalla Clinics,” Kejriwal said, accompanied by his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann. “They sent me to jail because I worked for you. The BJP does not want the work for Delhi’s people to continue.”
Delhi goes to polls for its seven Lok Sabha constituencies on May 25. Kejriwal, arrested in the Delhi liquor policy case, is out on interim bail till June 1, the final day of voting. He has to surrender on June 2.
In an unexpected move, the Supreme Court, hearing the challenge to Kejriwal’s arrest, decided to also take up his bail petition. While granting him bail, the judges noted he was not a “habitual offender” and cited the ongoing elections as an “extraordinary circumstance” warranting bail in “public interest.”
More Stories
ECoR General Manager Honors Railway Employees for Exemplary Alertness
RASHTRIYA EKTA DIWAS OBSERVED AT ECoR Headquarters
ECoR Employees Take Oath on Integrity During Vigilance Awareness Week Celebrations: