Out on bail, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday claimed that all opposition leaders, including West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and RJD leader Tejashvi Yadav, will be in jail if the BJP wins the Lok Sabha polls.
Addressing party workers, Kejriwal said AAP would be part of the next government at the Centre.
“Prime minister left no stone unturned to crush AAP by sending its four top leaders to jail,” he added.
The Supreme Court on Friday granted Kejriwal interim bail till June 1, paving way for his release nearly two months after his arrest by the ED in connection with a money-laundering case linked to now repealed Delhi excise policy.
The Supreme Court’s interim bail to Kejriwal is till June 1.
A few days before polls in Delhi, Punjab, CM gets relief
The fate of half of the constituencies is already sealed in EVMs at the time AAP’s star campaigner is beginning his poll campaign.
As many as 20 constituencies in Delhi and Punjab—the two states where the Kejriwal-led AAP is in power—will poll on May 25 and June 1, respectively.
Haryana, where AAP is contesting a seat as a part of INDIA bloc, will also poll on May 25. In Delhi, AAP has a seat-sharing agreement with the Congress but in Punjab it is flying solo.
Observers say Kejriwal’s absence was felt more in Delhi than in Punjab, where the party has a popular leader in the form of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.
“After his arrest, the alliance between AAP and Congress in Delhi suffered greatly. Several Congress leaders, including Arvinder Singh Lovely, resigned citing problems with the alliance. Some joint candidates are also facing opposition from local grassroots leaders,” they explain.
Can Kejriwal help improve situation in Delhi
Observers say his presence in Delhi may improve coordination between the two parties and help the alliance focus on the reason why it has come together in the first place.
“The basis of Congress-AAP seat-sharing is the concept of complete vote transfer from one to another which cannot happen if the two parties continue to engage in mudslinging,” they add.
Of late, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra have been receiving significant traction in public, which the BJP doesn’t appear to be comfortable with.
“In BJP’s case, it seems to be a result of overexposure, oversaturation and public fatigue,” they say.
Therefore, analysts suspect a “BJP hand” in the bail to Kejriwal.
“It may also be an attempt to shift focus from Congress’s brother-sister duo to Kejriwal,” they add.
Source: Tribune India