With Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in jail following his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in the liquor excise policy case, the Aam Aadmi Party’s tallest leader still free is Bhagwant Mann, the Chief Minister of Punjab. Mann has been in the national capital for the past two days to express solidarity with Kejriwal’s family and lead the party’s protests.
In an interview to News18, he said the BJP would be wrong to think it can break up the AAP. He also lashed out at the saffron party for trying to eliminate the Opposition “one-by-one”. Asked if he is ready to lead the AAP in Lok Sabha elections in the absence of Kejriwal during campaigning, Mann said he is ready for whatever responsibility the party entrusts to him.
Edited excerpts:
Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi, is now in jail. How will the Government of Delhi function?
Under no law is it written that a Chief Minister who is accused but not convicted must resign. The government can run from jail.
It is clear. In a particular case relating to a chit fund scam, the person was pronounced guilty of swindling Rs 20,000 crore. He was asked to return the money to the people. He asked ‘how can I do that? I have to sign papers’. After that, he was allowed to carry out his work in jail, have an office in jail. (A reference to the Subroto Roy Sahara chit fund case). He was convicted. We have been not been convicted. We are just the accused.
This is not the first time Arvind Kejriwal is going to jail. This is a party that was born out of an andolan. When he was on anshan in front of the Rail Bhavan, files were being signed over there.
However, the BJP has to think about this. Does the BJP feel that it can eliminate the Opposition by going after it one by one? Arrest Hemant Soren, trouble Mamata didi, use Governors to needle chief ministers like MK Stalin, Pinarayi Vijayan and me? Is this democracy? Is this the biggest democracy of the world?
What happened in Russia recently? With 88% votes, Vladimir Putin became the president till 2030. Then he will continue till 2040. And after that, till 2050. The 12% votes that he says were against him were not against him. That 12% vote was the percentage of votes that were ‘spoilt’, not counted. I am seeing ads on TV that Modi ji paused the war between Russia and Ukraine. May be he keeps talking to Putin about how these things are to be done. This is a dictatorship.
After Kejriwal, you are the most popular mass leader of AAP. The party is going to contest on 23 Lok Sabha constituencies. How will the party fight? On whose face will the party fight?
The AAP is a mass party. It is a party of the common people. We have 92 MLAs, of whom, 80 are first-timers. Punjab has 117 Assembly constituencies. And people as young as 27, 28 and 30 have won. Giant leaders have been felled. In the AAP, there is no gap between volunteers and national leaders. We are all sepoys, we are all generals.
Arvind Kejriwal ji will come out soon. Arvind Kejriwal is not a person, Arvind Kejriwal is an ideology. You cannot arrest an ideology. Hundreds of Arvind Kejriwals will be born.
We will campaign. Whenever it is necessary, I will campaign. On June 4 (counting day for Lok Sabha elections), AAP will emerge as a big political force in the country.
You have seen how the Shiv Sena split. Do you think even the AAP may face such a situation someday?
Why? They feel they have tasted blood. They have misunderstood the AAP if they feel they can break up our party. We have become a national party in 10 years, we have governments in two states, we have five MLAs in Gujarat, two in Goa, a Mayor in Chandigarh, and a Rajya Sabha MP. We are not a small or ordinary party anymore. We are the third largest party in the country. In the north, we have two governments, only the BJP is ahead of us. They should not have any misconceptions about us.
Hum woh patte nahi jo shakh se toot kar gir jayenge… andhiyon ko keh do apni aukad mein rahein (we are not leaves of the fall, warn the winds).
You may have a greater responsibility in keeping the party together and keeping the cadre motivated. Are you prepared?
Whatever responsibility is given to me, I will fulfil them. When we have left our jobs, our careers. When we have stepped out to fight for our country, we will fight long and hard. Today is March 23. This was the day Bhagat Singh was hanged. Bhagat Singh had said ‘ishq karna sabka haq hai, kyon na is baar apne watan ko, sahzameen ko mehboob bana diya jaye?’ Hum log watan ki sahzameen ko mehboob banate hain. (Everyone has the right to love, why not love the nation. We are the people to love our country).
Bhagat Singh had written something else that fits AAP leaders. ‘Is tarah jaankaar ho gayi hai mere swabhav se meri kalam, toh ishq jab likhta hun toh inquilab nikal jata hai. (My pen knows my spirit so well, that when I write ‘love’ it changes to ‘revolution’.) We are revolutionary people. We are not here to earn money. We are here to win the love of people.
