A day after walking out of jail on interim bail in the liquor policy case, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a “dangerous” mission to enforce a system of “one nation, one leader”.
Addressing a gathering of Aam Aadmi Party supporters in Delhi, Kejriwal alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party has attempted to end the political careers of even its own popular leaders ever since Modi assumed power as the prime minister in 2014.
He claimed that the BJP ended the political careers of senior leaders like LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Sumitra Mahajan.
“They did not even make Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who helped the party in winning the Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, the chief minister,” he said. “They ended the political careers of Vasundhara Raje in Rajasthan, Manohar Lal Khattar in Haryana and Dr Raman Singh in Chhattisgarh. Now who is next?”
Kejriwal also claimed that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath would be sacked from his post if the BJP returns to power after the Lok Sabha elections.
“This is what they want,” the Aam Aadmi party leader said. “One nation, one leader, there will be only one dictator in this country.”
The Delhi chief minister also warned that all prominent leaders of the Opposition, including Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, would be imprisoned if the BJP wins the general elections.
“They will send all the Opposition leaders to jail and manage all other BJP leaders and undercut them,” he said.
On April 15, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also made similar allegations, stating that the BJP wants only one leader to rule the country.
“The idea that India should have only one leader is an insult to every single young Indian person,” Gandhi had said at a rally in Kerala’s Wayanad, reported The Hindu. “Why cannot a young boy or girl who is in school not be a leader, why can one of our brothers who is driving an auto rickshaw be a leader, why can one of our police officers not be a leader?”
The Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress are part of the Opposition INDIA bloc that is challenging the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in the Lok Sabha polls.
On Saturday, Kejriwal claimed that the BJP would make Union home minister Amit Shah the next prime minister if it wins the Lok Sabha polls.
“Prime Minister Modi is turning 75 next September,” he said. “He is the one who made the rule that those who turn 75 must retire [from the BJP]. Who will fulfil Modi’s guarantee after he retires next year? Will Amit Shah do it?”
Supreme Court order on Kejriwal’s bail
Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on March 21 for his alleged role in the liquor policy case. The Aam Aadmi Party chief had been in Delhi’s Tihar jail till his release on Friday.
The court on Friday directed Kejriwal to surrender on June 2.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta directed him not to visit the chief minister’s office or the Delhi secretariat, and not to sign any official files unless his signature is needed for them to be cleared by the lieutenant governor.
The court order also said that bail conditions that restrain a political leader from partaking in political activities and rallies breach fundamental rights.
The bench noted that the Lok Sabha elections “is the most significant and important event this year, as it should be in a national election year”.
“General elections supply the vis viva to a democracy,” read the order.
It said that the bench had noted that the Aam Aadmi Party chief had failed to appear before the Enforcement Directorate despite nine summons. However, Kejriwal was a chief minister and the leader of a national party, it said.
“No doubt, serious accusations have been made, but he [Kejriwal] has not been convicted,” the order read. “He does not have any criminal antecedents. He is not a threat to the society.”
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