In first order from ED custody, Kejriwal directs to resolve Delhi’s water issues; even in jail CM thinking of people, says AAP

Meanwhile, leaders of the Opposition INDIA bloc announced they would hold a joint rally at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi on March 31 to protest Kejriwal’s arrest and display solidarity against “authoritarianism” and “suppression of democracy”.

Kejriwal was arrested last Thursday by the ED in connection with its probe into the Delhi excise policy case. The agency obtained his custody Friday evening, hours after it told a Delhi court that he was the “kingpin” of the “scam” under investigation — a charge Kejriwal’s lawyers rejected. The ED also alleged that kickbacks received following changes in the excise policy were used to fund AAP’s Assembly poll campaign in Goa.

Delhi Minister Atishi with other INDIA bloc leaders at a press conference in Delhi. (Express photo: Abhinav Saha)

At a press conference, Atishi, quoting the “written directions” of the CM, said, “I have come to know that a few areas of Delhi have been facing problems related to water and sewerage… Summer is also coming… Where there is a shortage of water, deploy water tankers in sufficient quantity and give orders to the Chief Secretary and officers so that the public does not face any trouble.”

Atishi said, “He has given me these directions from ED custody. My eyes welled up with tears when I received this… Who thinks like this even in a situation like this? Even from jail, he is a person who is thinking about the people of Delhi… No person except Arvind Kejriwal can think like this because he considers 2 crore people his family.”

“I want to tell the BJP people that you can arrest Kejriwal and put him in jail but you cannot arrest his love for the people of Delhi, you cannot stop him from fulfilling his responsibilities,” she said.

Asked whether Kejriwal, through his letter, is proving that he will continue to run the Delhi government, Atishi said, “CM Arvind Kejriwal has been reviewing the ongoing works and developments in all departments. All the projects and matters have been under his supervision. Now he is under the custody of the Central government… Department and the officers will be directed as per the direction given by the CM.”

At the INDIA bloc press conference, AAP leader and Delhi Minister Gopal Rai said, “The way the Prime Minister of the country has been acting like a dictator and suppressing democracy to arrest Arvind Kejriwal, all the people in the country who love democracy are angry today. And it’s not just about Kejriwal but the way the whole Opposition is being targeted, one after another, with the help of (investigation) agencies.”

“On the one hand they have arrested the CM, and on the other, they have converted the whole national capital into a prison… The MCC (Model Code of Conduct) has currently been put in place; at such a time, the head office of a party is getting sealed and I was not allowed to enter the party office despite being the Pradesh Adhyaksh (state chief),” he said.

“The BJP is repeatedly saying that they are getting the Opposition leaders arrested on account of corruption. The BJP has itself filled its coffers with crores of money with the help of electoral bonds but neither the CBI… nor the ED has questioned this… Meanwhile, the accounts of our friends from Congress have been sealed due to which the party is unable to campaign today,” he said.

Rai said the Opposition is uniting because “the country is in danger”.

Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely said, “Our leader Rahul Gandhi has been trying to save the country’s democracy… In a situation like this, when democracy is being challenged, there is no way the Congress will sit without protesting.”

“They (the Central government) do not want to provide the Opposition with even a level-playing field. You seal the bank account of the biggest and the oldest party in the country right before the elections and you call this a democracy?”

On the March 31 rally, Lovely said, “We will have a big rally… This will not just be a political rally, it will be a rally where the whole nation will question the threat that is looming over democracy… I appeal not just the Congress workers and sympathisers but also the RWAs (Residents’ Welfare Associations) and people of Delhi to show up in large numbers.”

Rajiv Kunwar from CPI (M) said, “The moment Kejriwal was arrested, we expressed our opposition. The opposition is not just to the arrest of a Chief Minister but against dictatorial rule. …We will show up in large numbers on the 31st.”

Subhash Chopra of Congress said, “The type of situation that is being created in Delhi, how will that be controlled? I would like to tell the people that this rally is against suppression… The way the CM was arrested at an odd hour… the whole world is discussing (it).”