From seat no. 41, Kejriwal holds fort

Work affected as Kejriwal refused to resign as CM even after being jailed: BJP 

AAP national convener and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal continued to be the face of the party in the Assembly on Thursday as he launched a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing it of stalling various schemes and works of the Delhi government while he was in jail. While Mr. Kejriwal spoke for 18 minutes, Chief Minister Atishi, who was present in the House, did not speak, except for tabling a Bill.

Accusing the BJP of stalling repair of roads, free pilgrimage for senior citizens, and removing bus marshals, Mr. Kejriwal said, “I want to tell the people of Delhi. Your son is back. All those works which were stalled by them [BJP] will be restarted.”

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court granted bail to Mr. Kejriwal in the CBI’s corruption case related to the excise policy case. The AAP chief had stepped down as Chief Minister on September 17, saying he would return to the post after getting a “certificate of honesty” from the people in the Assembly polls likely to be held in February.

Mr. Kejriwal, who earlier occupied seat no.1 in the House, has now been allotted seat no. 41. Ms. Atishi has been allotted seat no.1.

Mr. Kejriwal, who along with Ms. Atishi inspected roads near Delhi University earlier in the day, said, “The condition of roads was very bad. I have told the Chief Minister to fix it immediately and she has given directions to fix it.”

Hitting back, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said Mr. Kejriwal did not resign even after going to jail and that led to stalling of development work. 

Published - September 27, 2024 01:47 am IST