Jalandhar/Chandigarh. Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal said on Wednesday that he is going to jail to ‘save’ the country. Kejriwal has to surrender on June 2 after the interim bail period in the excise policy case expires. He is on interim bail till June 1 on the orders of the Supreme Court. The apex court has asked him to surrender on June 2. He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in March in a money laundering case related to Delhi’s alleged excise policy scam.
Kejriwal told PTI-Video here, “I am ready to go back to jail on June 2. And I am proud that I am going to jail to save my country.” Attacking the BJP-led Centre, he said, “They (BJP) say that Kejriwal is involved in corruption… they do not have a single proof. People are saying that if Kejriwal is corrupt then there is no honest person in this world.”
He said in a questioning tone, “They say that Rs 100 crore has been stolen. They raided 500 places but they did not find a single penny. Did Rs 100 crore disappear into thin air?” The Chief Minister said that in a TV interview, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was asked that Kejriwal is saying that you do not have any proof, nothing has been recovered, then why was he arrested. Kejriwal said, “The Prime Minister admitted that he does not have any proof, nothing has been recovered and this is because Kejriwal is an experienced thief. If the Prime Minister admits in front of the whole country that he does not have any proof, then it means that the whole case is fake.”
BJP wants to cross 400 to end reservation: Kejriwal
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday alleged that the BJP wants 400 seats so that it can abolish reservation. He said that the 2024 Lok Sabha election is to save the country. Addressing a gathering of traders and businessmen in Jalandhar, Kejriwal said, “They are saying 400 seats. Someone asked what do you need (so many seats)? They say (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi ji wants to do something big. When asked, it was revealed that they want to abolish reservation and change the Constitution. They have hatched dangerous conspiracies.” The AAP leader alleged that the Prime Minister calls commission agents and traders “thieves”.
The Delhi Chief Minister said, “But we consider you the backbone of our economy. We respect you a lot.” He said that just as farmers and laborers are important for the development of the country, traders, businessmen and industrialists are also important.
He said, “You can guess how important you people are for me from the fact that the very next day after the Delhi elections were over, I went to Ferozepur and held a meeting with traders there.” Kejriwal said that before the AAP government was formed, the condition of industry in Punjab was very bad. He said, “Traders were leaving the state and going to other states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, but in the last two years, the trend of industries leaving the state has stopped.”
He said, “The biggest reason for this is that the law and order situation in Punjab has improved a lot in the last two years.” Kejriwal claimed that the AAP government has ended corruption in Punjab and saved a lot of money from the government treasury. He said, “With that money, we are giving free electricity to the people of Punjab. Today, 83 percent of the people of Punjab are getting zero electricity bills.”
He said, “Apart from this, we are building mohalla clinics at various places and improving the condition of government hospitals. We are also converting government schools into excellent schools.” He said, “All this is happening because our intentions are clear and we are working with honesty.” He appealed to the businessmen to make Aam Aadmi Party victorious in all the 13 Lok Sabha seats of Punjab.