AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal addressing a ‘nukkad sabha’ in the West Delhi Lok Sabha constituency on Saturday.
| Photo Credit: ANI
In a video message on Saturday, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said he will march up to the BJP headquarters with all his party leaders on May 19. He dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to arrest all leaders, MPs, and MLAs of the party at one go “instead of sending us to jail one by one”.
The AAP chief said, “I am coming tomorrow to the BJP headquarters with all my leaders, MLAs, MPs… everyone, at noon. Whoever you want to put in jail, put them all in at once.”
Mr. Kejriwal’s decision to put up a show of strength came hours after his personal assistant Bibhav Kumar was arrested for assaulting the party’s Rajya Sabha member Swati Maliwal.
AAP has claimed that the entire incident was orchestrated by the BJP to defame the party and that Ms. Maliwal was a pawn in this conspiracy.
‘Bid to crush Oppn.’
In the video, Mr. Kejriwal said, “Today they have arrested my personal assistant, soon they will arrest other AAP leaders such as Raghav Chaddha, Atishi, and Saurabh Bharadwaj also, to crush the Opposition.”
He added, “The Prime Minister is mistaken if he thinks he can crush AAP by putting its leaders in jail”.
‘AAP an idea’
Mr. Kejriwal also said, “AAP is an idea that has reached the hearts of people across the country. It cannot be crushed by putting AAP’s leaders in jail. Try putting all its leaders in prison all at once and see. The nation will produce 100 times as many leaders as you imprison.”
He said he had reflected on why the BJP was trying to jail AAP leaders. “It is because AAP has developed schools, Mohalla Clinics, and hospitals and provided free electricity. They are not able to do this. That is why they want to stop the Delhi government from functioning,” he said.
Addressing a “nukkad sabha” in the West Delhi Lok Sabha constituency later on Saturday, Mr. Kejriwal said the PM had put him in jail, but God had ensured his release so that he could campaign against the BJP and help defeat it.
‘No evidence of graft’
“Is Modi a Prime Minister or a thanedar (police officer) that he wants all of us in jail?” Mr. Kejriwal said.
“This is not an ordinary election. Don’t sit at home because it’s hot. This is an election to save the country and the Constitution,” he also said.