Delhi CM Kejriwal Holds First Roadshow For LS Election Campaign After His Release From Jail

AAP convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday asserted that the BJP will not form the government on June 4 and said if the INDIA bloc comes to power, the direction and fate of the country will change.

He held his first roadshow for Lok Sabha election campaign along with his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann in the South Delhi and East Delhi constituencies, a day after his release from Tihar jail.  Party leaders and workers gathered in large numbers while Kejriwal and Mann mounted an open-roof vehicle, waving and greeting people.

“I have come straight to you after being released from jail. I missed Delhi people a lot. I want to thank crores of people who prayed and sent blessings to me,” Kejriwal said at the end of his roadshow.

Mann said Kejriwal has “changed the direction of politics” in the country. In the coming days, he will decide which way the politics of the country is headed, asserted Mann.

In his second roadshow in the late evening in support of AAP’s East Delhi candidate Kuldeep Kumar, Kejriwal alleged the BJP wanted to change the Constitution and end the reservation policy.

He also assured women that he will start the scheme of a monthly honorarium of Rs 1,000 to them, announced in Delhi Budget this year.

Kejriwal also hit out at the Modi government saying the BJP was talking about ’mangalsutra’ instead of telling about its achievements of 10 years.

Recalling his days in jail, Kejriwal said his wife Sunita, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and his ministers used to come to meet him.

“I used to ask my ministers about the welfare of people while in jail. During my stay in jail, I used to think what is my fault that I was arrested. My fault was that I provided good schools and hospitals for people. I provided health facilities to people. They (BJP) stopped my insulin for 15 days in jail,” he said.

The AAP chief said he was fighting against ”dictatorship” with all his power.

“I need your support. The country never accepted any dictator and people removed them. I have come to seek your support to fight dictatorship,” he said.

Kejriwal asserted that the Modi government will not be formed on June 4.

“They are losing seats everywhere, be it Karnataka, Haryana. In Punjab, they will not win anything and even in Delhi, all the seven seats will be won by the INDIA bloc,” he claimed.

If the INDIA bloc comes to power, full statehood will be provided to Delhi, he said.

The Delhi chief minister alleged the BJP wants to shut everything to paralyse the Delhi government.

Remembering his former ministers Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, who are in Tihar jail, he claimed they changed the face of schools and hospitals.

“Sisodia changed the face of schools in Delhi. He should be made the Union minister of education,” he said.

AAP volunteers, holding party flags and raising slogans, marched behind the vehicle in the narrow streets of Mehrauli in South Delhi, in support of party candidate Sahi Ram Pehalwan.

Kejriwal, who is out on an interim bail granted by the Supreme Court till June 1, earlier in the day said he will campaign across the country to fight against ”dictatorship”.

Punjab CM Mann said it was the “most fortunate” moment for Delhi that its “beloved leader” is amid people within 24 hours after getting bail.

“Nobody comes out of their homes for political leaders. But you stood with him and his family during the crisis,” he said thanking people.

BJP thought sending AAP leaders in jail will finish the party but they do not know that it is a “thought that cannot be finished,” he said.

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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)