‘Mai bhi Kejriwal’: AAP kickstarts campaign in Delhi to bolster support for CM

Rai said, “Leaders of our party are being falsely implicated — first Satyendar Jain, then Manish Sisodia, and now Sanjay Singh. A conspiracy is now underway to arrest CM Kejriwal. In this situation, we are going door to door asking people if the CM is arrested, then should he resign or run the government from jail.”

AAP workers will continue the campaign till December 20, knocking on doors across 2,600 polling stations. Following this, dialogues will be held at public gatherings in the city’s 250 municipal wards from December 21-24.

“CM Kejriwal will decide on whether he will continue his term in jail based on public opinion collected once the campaign ends,” Rai added.

As part of the programme, party officials were told to make sure they went to each and every home in the neighbourhood and took the time to explain why they did not think Kejriwal ought to step down. Additionally, party volunteers handed out pamphlets with questions such as “Why does Narendra Modi want to arrest Arvind Kejriwal?” and “How is the liquor scam fake?” among others.

The views gathered by the party, according to those included in the outreach, ranged from support to cynicism. “I think he should continue his term from jail because, as a housewife, I care about the facilities that the government provides, like electricity and water supply,” said Surekha Dubey, a resident. Jai Singh, another resident from the neighbourhood, said, “If there’s a chance that his term in jail will make governance slower, then he ought to step down; if not, he can serve out his time there.”

The Delhi BJP, meanwhile, termed the programme’s first day a “non-starter”, alleging that it was mainly confined to AAP workers. “AAP leaders will try to show Kejriwal as a false superhero even though Delhiites are not extending them any political support,” Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said in a statement to the press.