After meeting his MLAs and councillors with the question of whether he should resign if arrested or run the government from jail, AAP convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday met the party’s volunteers, office bearers, and Members of Parliament at the city’s Thyagaraj Stadium. Along with Kejriwal, Aam Aadmi Party’s Delhi ministers and MPs were on the stage.
In the first meeting with the MLAs after the chief minister received the Enforcement Directorate’s notice asking him to appear before it on November 2, the legislators had urged Kejriwal not to resign. The councillors also expressed a similar opinion in a separate meeting, with the decision that the party will conduct a “referendum” in Delhi on whether, if arrested, the Delhi chief minister should resign or govern from jail.
“We are not scared of going to jail. Jail is as sacred for us as it is for a revolutionary. I have already spent 15 days in jail. Arrangements are quite all right. If you are jailed, don’t worry. If Bhagat Singh can stay in jail, Manish Sisodia can stay in jail for nine months, Satyendar Jain can stay in jail for one year, what issue can I have if jailed? Being jailed does not make a difference to me. However, there is a question in front of us. We do not have a lust for power. I had resigned after 49 days. No one resigns from even a chowkidar’s job. No one had asked for my resignation. I think I am the first chief minister who resigned after 49 days. I don’t have any lust for the chief minister’s chair. However, we have to watch against being trapped by their conspiracy. I have already discussed this with all MLAs…yesterday, I met the councillors, and today with all the volunteers on the question of whether I should resign or run the government from jail. Now, I am giving you a responsibility. The citizens of Delhi have given us a lot of love and we will not do anything against their will. You will have to go to every household, conduct nukkad sabhas, and ask the people what should be done,” the AAP supremo facing the threat of possible arrest told the party’s rank and file.
He went on to remind them of the first time when AAP as a political party had turned to the people. “Remember when we had won 28 seats and we had asked the people whether we should take the support of the Congress? When these people gave the go-ahead, we took their support. We are standing at a crossroads, the party is standing at a crossroads. You have to go to the people, reach every nook and cranny of Delhi, and ask the people whether I should resign or run the government from jail. The will of the people is our command,” said Kejriwal.
Going a step further, the AAP chief sounded the bugle for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. “Understand that the campaign for the Lok Sabha elections has started from here. You have to go to each household and conduct nukkad sabhas and expose the BJP. Whether I will be behind bars or outside, this time the BJP should not win even a single Lok Sabha seat,” he said. “I want to congratulate all workers and office bearers for you are part of the world’s fastest-growing party, not just that of the country.”
With inputs from News18
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