‘If they arrest one Kejriwal, 1 lakh more will be born’: CM wins confidence vote

Of the 62 AAP MLAs in the 70-member House, 54 were present during the legislative show of strength by the party on Saturday. Kejriwal has presided over three such exercises so far including two in August 2022 and March 2023.

Terming it a “parliamentary manoeuvre”, the Delhi government had on Friday stated that the rationale behind instigating the motion, according to the chief minister, was “to demonstrate…that once again, the BJP’s ‘Operation Lotus’ has faltered in Delhi. None of our MLAs defected, and all remain steadfastly aligned with us.”

Attacking the BJP during the discussion on the motion, Kejriwal addressed concerns about his possible arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in the excise policy case, accused the BJP of seeking to finish the AAP out of fear and declared that only the AAP could show the BJP the exit door from the helm of the country’s governance in 2029.

“For many days they have been thinking that they’ll arrest Kejriwal, and the AAP will be finished. They can imprison Kejriwal, but how will they imprison Kejriwal’s ideology? If they arrest one Kejriwal, then 1 lakh will be born from Bharat Mata’s womb,” the AAP National Convenor said.

“They have arrested numerous AAP leaders…and now they are threatening to apprehend the top leader. Such an attack on any political party has never been witnessed anywhere in the world…Why is this happening, because today the AAP is the biggest challenger to the BJP in the country…if the BJP doesn’t lose the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, then in 2029, the AAP will liberate the country from the BJP,” he added.

Alleging that rumours were doing the rounds that the BJP would do away with the Delhi Assembly after it came back to power in 2024, the CM indicated that the survival of the capital’s legislature would be a significant poll issue for it during campaigning for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Kejriwal asked his legislative colleagues to go to every corner of the city and tell citizens that the BJP was plotting to rip their vote of any inherent value through the move.

“Today the BJP should make it clear whether it will dissolve the Delhi Assembly after the Lok Sabha or not. Elections should be held today on this issue. You (MLAs) also go to every street and tell people that if you vote for the BJP, then the BJP is going to snatch your right to vote,” he said.

Accusing the BJP of seeking to “destroy Delhi” by harassing bureaucrats into stalling administration in the city and seeking to destabilise the AAP government by poaching its MLAs, Kejriwal said all that remained in its bid to “finish the AAP” was to arrest him.

“…Not even a single MLA of our party broke away. We have in total 62 MLAs…there are 54 present in the assembly, two are ill, three are out of station, two are in jail — Satyendar Jain and Manish Sisodia — and one is busy with a wedding in the family,” he said following which the motion was passed by voice vote.

Responding to the development, LOP Bidhuri questioned the need for the motion terming it “a ridiculous situation” and a bid to divert attention from “corruption and the failure of the government on every front”.

“Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal presented the Motion of Confidence in the Assembly only to divert attention from corruption…it is a ridiculous situation where the allegation after which the Motion of Confidence has been moved in the Assembly, CM Kejriwal and Minister Atishi are not cooperating with the Delhi Police in the investigation of this allegation,” he alleged.