‘Should I resign or run govt from jail, ask people’: Kejriwal to AAP workers

AAP convener 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 CM post or whether he should run the government from jail – if he is arrested in connection with the ongoing liquor probe.

“I don’t have any 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 Delhi people’s opinion on this. “Go to every house in Delhi and take people’s opinion on this. But BJP should not get one Lok Sabha seat from Delhi this time — even if I am in jail,” Kejriwal said.

“There is no liquor scam in Delhi. Liquor scams are there in Gujarat, Haryana. But the BJP has understood that it can’t win an election against AAP unless it puts top AAP leaders in jail. But today I am telling you to arrest me and see AAP win from jail,” Kejriwal said addressing a congregation of the party workers.

AAP is the third-largest party in the country, Kejriwal said congratulating the party workers. “They now know that they can do whatever in Delhi but they will not win in Delhi. So now they have come up with sharab ghotala. ED, CBI have no evidence and this was raised by the Supreme Court. They have arrested Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain, Sanjay Singh, Vijay Nair and now they want to arrest me,” Kejriwal said.

“AAP is the fastest-growing party in the world, not the country. We should ask the Guinness Book of the Record whether they are putting our names. First Delhi and Punjab and then we did well in Goa and Gujarat. We became a national party, the third-largest party in the county. My heart says AAP will leave the BJP and the Congress behind soon and will rule the country. Big conspiracies will be hatched now against you,” Kejriwal said to his party workers.

Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh would get bail in 24 hours if they joined the BJP, Kejriwal said adding that all leaders of the regional parties would be targetted ahead of elections so that they can’t campaign. “They have plans to arrest Mamata Banerjee, Tejashwi Yadav and Hemant Soren — so that the BJP can sweep in these states,” Kejriwal said.

Early this month, Kejriwal was summoned by the ED in connection with the liquor probe. Kejriwal rejected the summons while an alternative plan was ready in case Kejriwal would have been arrested. “We don’t get scared by jail. It’s like an ornament for us. I have spent 15 days in jail. Arrangements there were fine. You also don’t get scared if you are ever arrested. If Bhagat Singh could stay in jail for so many years, Manish Sisodia could be there for eight months and Satyendar Jain for over a year, what do I have to fear in arrest?” Kejriwal said.