On 31st December (Sunday), AAP National Convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal asked his party workers to be ready to go to jail arguing that the good work they are doing land people behind bars. He told party workers that five AAP leaders are in jail in connection with the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam asserting that they are heroes and the party is proud of them.
Notably, Kejriwal returned from Anandgarh village in Punjab’s Hoshiarpur district on 30th December after completing the 10-day Vipassana course.
#WATCH | Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal along with Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann leaves from Vipassana Meditation Centre in Hoshiarpur, Punjab
— ANI (@ANI) December 30, 2023
CM Kejriwal was on Vipassana meditation from December 19 to 30th December. pic.twitter.com/VjE0JNGlLV
On his return, he chaired the party’s 12th National Executive and National Council meeting where Punjab’s CM Bhagwant Mann and AAP’s National General Secretary Organisation Sandeep Pathak were also present.
Addressing party leaders virtually, Kejriwal said, “I think we are facing a struggle, but there’s no need for us to be saddened. Our five leaders who are in jail today are our heroes. We are very proud of all of them.”
At the party meeting, the AAP Supremo asked party workers to be ready to go to jail as the path they have chosen will take them to jail. According to the AAP Supremo, leaders who are on the path to do welfare of the people, give education to children, and provide free treatment to the poor, will have to go to jail.
He said, “We have chosen paths for the welfare of the people; hence we will have to go to jail. If you give good education to children, you will have to go to jail; if you provide free treatment to the poor, you will have to go to jail. Therefore, all of us need to decide whether we want to go to jail or not. If you are prepared to go to jail, then continue on the path of providing good education to children and free treatment to the poor.”
He added, “If we were not successful and did not do anything good, then none of our party leaders would have gone to jail and everyone would have been happy with their families today.”
It is important to note that AAP has been alleging foul play and a political witch hunt in the incarceration of its leaders arguing that senior party leaders and Former Ministers Manish Sisodia, Satyendra Jain, and Sanjay Singh have been framed for working for the welfare of the people. However, the courts, on numerous occasions, have declined the bail pleas of the jailed AAP leaders in the Delhi Liquor policy scam case. Further, the Supreme Court during a bail hearing in the case noted that a money trail of Rs 338 crore has been tentatively established in the case.
Additionally, Kejriwal’s appeal to party workers “to be ready to go to jail” comes at a time when the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned him for the third time on 3rd January in connection with a money laundering case linked to the Delhi excise policy.
On 22nd December, ED issued the third summons to Kejriwal asking him to appear before the agency on 3rd January. He had skipped the previous two summonses citing his personal commitments as a party campaigner in state assembly elections and “pre-scheduled” Vipassana programme along with extending self-certification of innocence in the case.
