New Delhi, Mar 23 (PTI) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is in the ED’s custody in connection with an excise policy-linked money-laundering case, will be released and bring a revolution in the country, his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann said on Saturday.
Kejriwal (55) was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) from his official residence on Thursday. On Friday, he was produced in a court, which sent him to the agency’s custody till March 28.
Mann, Delhi ministers Atishi, Saurabh Bharadwaj, Gopal Rai and Kailash Gahlot, and Mayor Shelly Oberoi visited Shaheedi Park on Saturday to commemorate the martyrdom day of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru and take a pledge to safeguard democracy. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs and Congress leader Haroon Yusuf also joined the protest.
Supporters shouted slogans of “Kejriwal zindabad (long live Kejriwal)” and “Arvind tum sangharsh karo, hum tumhare sath hain (keep waging the battle, we are with you)”.
“When the country became independent in 1947, we got the right to vote and began electing leaders. But today, the souls of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev must be in agony to see that the democracy for which sacrifices were made is no longer alive in this country,” Mann said.
He said Kejriwal can be put in jail, but his ideology cannot be captured.
“Today, there is anger across the country as the BJP wants to bring dictatorship. The BJP believes that if its government is not formed in Delhi, it will not let the government function here, only the LG will run it,” Mann said.
Asserting that the “Constitution is in danger”, he asked the people of the country to unite.
“What do they think of this country? This country is not anyone’s jagir (estate). The news that democracy is in danger in India is on the front pages of newspapers worldwide. They (BJP) say that they stopped the war between Russia and Ukraine.
“You are locking up people within your own country and talking about stopping wars outside,” the AAP leader said.
Once Kejriwal comes out of custody, there will be a wave across the country in his favour, he added.
Mann said there is no law that says if a chief minister is jailed under a “political conspiracy”, he must resign.
“If he has not been proven guilty, he can run the government from jail. And as for election campaigning, it will be the promotion of Kejriwal’s ideology. Every candidate (in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls) and every volunteer will campaign as Kejriwal,” he said.
Yusuf said the INDIA opposition bloc stands united with full strength and determination. “There is an attempt to strangle the country’s democracy. Arrests of chief ministers are happening. First Hemant Soren was arrested and now, Kejriwal has been arrested,” he said. PTI SLB RC
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