AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal at Rashtriya Janpratinidhi Sammelan in New Delhi on Sunday. (EXPRESS PHOTO BY PRAVEEN KHANNA 18 09 2022.)Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal Sunday sharpened his attacks on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the party’s first national convention.
“Like lord Krishna was sent to end evil, god has sent AAP to end corruption, inflation, unemployment and save the constitution and country from evils,” he said, addressing a gathering of around 1,500 elected representatives of the AAP from around 20 states, including Punjab, Goa, Haryana.
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia with other AAP leaders at Rashtriya Janpratinidhi Sammelan in New Delhi on Sunday. (EXPRESS PHOTO BY PRAVEEN KHANNA 18 09 2022) “Ten years ago, when the Aam Aadmi Party was formed, I never thought that there would be so many representatives that the Indira Gandhi stadium would fill up. Lord Krishna was born to end evil… Kanha ne rakshas ka vadh kiya… waise hi bhagwan ne AAP banaya hai,” he said.
Attacking the Congress and the BJP, he said, “India adopted the Constitution on November 25, 1949, and in the next 60 years, these people destroyed the country. Later, God had to come and intervene and in 2012 AAP was formed to save the government and the country… This is not some coincidence… God has given us the responsibility and each one of you has to keep up to that and work for development.”
“Seeds were planted in Delhi and Punjab and the plant has grown strong… We have planted seeds in Gujarat also and these seeds will grow very strong and become trees. ”
Referring to the 27 councillors in the Surat municipal corporation, Kejriwal said: “A year and a half ago, we planted 27 seeds in Gujarat and they are going to become strong trees. Like lord Krishna, we are fighting against corruption, inflation, unemployment…agar dusri party wale mehngayi kam karte to hume log laat maar ke bhaga dete… But we are fighting against corruption and inflation. That is why people like us.”
AAP supporters gather at the Rashtriya Janpratinidhi Sammelan in New Delhi on Sunday. (EXPRESS PHOTO BY PRAVEEN KHANNA) He said that people like the AAP because of its honest politics and honesty and that is what the opposition (BJP) cannot bear. “They can’t bear our honesty. There are some things about AAP that they can’t bear — education, healthcare facilities and schemes which they call ‘revdi’. Their leaders have never spoken about education and healthcare facilities.”
Reacting to Amanatullah Khan’s arrest, Kejriwal accused BJP of launching phase -II of ‘Operation Lotus’. “Their phase-Il failed in Delhi and Punjab. So now they have arrested Amanatullah Khan in a fake case. Many of our MLAs have again started receiving calls from BJP with offers of Rs 25 crore. They are being threatened that if you will not join BJP, you will also face arrest like Amanatullah Khan.”
“I have not seen India’s fight for freedom… but how our MLAs are fighting the opposition, rejecting offers of Rs 25-25 crores, facing CBI ED, it is not a small thing… They want to put all of them in Jail… You all should be ready to go to jail for 3-4 months…They won’t be able to do anything…Jail is not that bad…we stayed there in Jail for 15 days…agar sabke andar ye himmat aajaye wo humara kuch nahi bigad sakte,” Kejriwal added.
The chief minister said Satyendar Jain, who is currently in jail in a money laundering case, should be given Bharat Ratna. “If he was in any other country, he would have been honoured for the work he did in the health and power sector. He brought mohalla clinics, free electricity, hospitals… He should be given the Bharat Ratna. When they failed to produce anything against Jain in court, they targeted Manish Sisodia but could find nothing… They raided his house, bank locker and questioned his villagers… They found nothing but a jhunjhuna that he bought for his son when he was a child… Now they are going after Kailash Gahlot… Don’t fear going to jail, jail is not bad, no matter what, we have to work for our country and make India number 1,” he said.
Kejriwal was accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on the stage. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was also supposed to come for the event but party officials said he was in Germany. All MLAs and MPs from Punjab and Delhi ministers Gopal Rai, Kailash Gahlot, Delhi Jal Board vice-chairman Saurabh Bhardwaj and MP Sanjay Singh were also present in the meeting.
Hitting out at Modi, Kejriwal said, “They spent Rs 8-9 thousand crore to buy MLAs… They are buying MLA and then they stand on the ramparts of the Red Fort and say ‘I am fighting against corruption… He is not fighting corruption, he is fighting against the AAP.”
“Our main mission is to make India Number 1 and for this, we have to work on four sectors — education, health, employment, equal opportunity to women and girls, world-class infrastructure and facilities for farmers. 75 years ago, everyone came together and kicked Britishers out…Now, we all have to come together to make our country number 1. We have launched a missed call number, join us and spread this across the city and country to make India number 1. Today, we have 1,446 representatives in 20 states and union territories… It includes MLA, MP, zila panchayat members etc,” Kejriwal added.