Last Update: March 04, 2023, 08:30 IST
Senior party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh says that AAP’s mass base will increase further. (Twitter)
The arrest of top AAP leaders is to implicate them in false and fabricated cases. Both our ministers Manish Sisodia and Satyendra Jain, who have been arrested, were doing great work in the field of education and health, Sanjay Singh told News18
With two of its top leaders, including former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, being arrested at a time when elections are being held in several states while preparations are on for the 2024 Lok Sabha battle, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is looking to expand its footprint across the country. Announced, starting with election states, is in a tight spot.
Senior party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh told News18 how the arrests would “not impact” their expansion plans, vision for next year’s Lok Sabha elections and Sisodia’s longevity.
Edited excerpts:
The arrest of your two top leaders is a big blow to your governance in Delhi as well as to your grand plans for political expansion in the states and the upcoming general elections. Do you think this will affect the party’s prospects in these crucial election years?
This will not affect our plans in any way. The whole act of arresting top AAP leaders by the Center is to implicate them in false and fabricated cases. Both our ministers Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, who have been arrested, were doing very good work in the field of education and health. And that is the reason why they have been put behind the bars. I would only say that the more the BJP-led Center goes ahead with its repressive acts of harassing AAP leaders, the more our mass base will increase. The more they torture us, the more popularity we will gain across the country.
Sisodia has been booked not only in the Excise Policy case, but also in the Feedback Unit snooping case. Do you think he, like Jain, is in it for the long haul?
They can book him in a thousand more cases. Central investigative agencies such as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) have been given powers to imprison a person for up to a year without proving any charges or having strong evidence against them Are. You can see this in the case of Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, or in the case of former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh. Another glaring example of misuse of agencies is the case involving journalist Siddiqui Kappan, who was falsely booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). This is when there is an allegation of a huge financial fraud against Gautam Adani, a businessman close to the BJP. But the Center has not sent any agency to investigate those allegations.
After the party’s success in Punjab and good performance in Gujarat, the AAP leadership had projected party chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as the PM face for the 2024 general elections against PM Narendra Modi. Is the party still on it?
It is too early to talk about it at the moment. The party will decide how to proceed with the preparations for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, how many seats we will contest and from which states. However, it is a fact that any party goes into elections with a vision and we are in the process of fulfilling it. We need to know what we can do for the people of the constituency from where we contest. At present our priority is to work on solving issues related to people’s lives like health, education, water and electricity, wherever we go with our campaign.
With serious allegations of corruption against AAP leaders, that too for a party that came to power on an anti-corruption plank, and unrest in Punjab with the rise of the Khalistani movement, which the BJP has been calling “misrule”. The question has been raised on the DNA of the party itself, what do you have to say on this?
As I have already said that the allegations of corruption are false and fabricated and the public also knows that. Second, on the emergence of Amritpal (Indian Khalistani separatist activist) in Punjab, the state government will act according to the law. The land of Punjab is such where hatred cannot be created. Our government is committed to humanity and brotherhood. And when it comes to governance, our government in Punjab has given employment to thousands of people, opened mohalla clinics, is providing 300 units of free electricity every month to every household, has improved law and order, and is working for the welfare of the people. Will keep doing Under the BJP rule driving this false agenda, at least 56,000 schools were closed in various states including Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Madhya Pradesh (MP). ,
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