The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will initiate a referendum titled “Main Bhi Kejriwal” campaign starting on Friday to gather public feedback on whether Arvind Kejriwal should resign as the Delhi Chief Minister in the event of his arrest under an alleged “conspiracy by the BJP.” As part of the campaign, AAP volunteers will distribute pamphlets and collect signatures from the public at all 2,600 polling stations across the city. These pamphlets will seek people’s opinions on whether Kejriwal should step down from his role as Delhi Chief Minister if he faces arrest. Additionally, from December 21 to 24, MLAs and councillors will organise public dialogues in all wards to gauge the vox populi.
Addressing a press conference alongside party MP Raghav Chadha, Delhi Minister and Delhi AAP convener Gopal Rai alleged the BJP has orchestrated a conspiracy to have Kejriwal arrested under the “fake” liquor scam case, with the intention of dismantling the Aam Aadmi Party. Rai mentioned that Kejriwal had consulted with AAP MLAs and councillors, seeking their opinions on the matter, and there was a consensus that he should not resign but rather continue to govern from jail.
He said that from December 21 to December 24, the AAP will conduct “Jan Samvad” in every ward of the city to engage in discussions with the public about the alleged liquor scam and the BJP’s purported conspiracy to have Kejriwal arrested. During these sessions, they will seek people’s opinions on whether Kejriwal should resign as the Delhi Chief Minister in the event of his arrest or run the government from jail.
“Modiji placed Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain, and Sanjay Singh in jail through false cases. Even after that, since the BJP could not break the AAP, a conspiracy is being hatched to arrest Arvind Kejriwal. Despite ruling the MCD for 15 consecutive years, the people of Delhi, prioritising Arvind Kejriwal’s work, uprooted the BJP from power. The way the AAP government under Kejriwal’s leadership is working in Delhi has made BJP top leaders and PM Modi believe that at any cost, the BJP cannot form its government in Delhi. BJP intends that if its government does not form in Delhi, then Arvind Kejriwal should be eliminated, and the rapidly advancing caravan of the AAP should be halted,” said Rai.
Sharing details, Rai mentioned that in the second phase, a public dialogue would be initiated across Delhi starting from December 21. From December 21 to 24, public dialogues will be organised in all wards of Delhi, encouraging the participation of residents from entire wards.
“Our MLAs and councilors will be part of this public dialogue. Public opinion will also be sought in this dialogue on whether Arvind Kejriwal should resign if arrested or not,” he added.
For AAP, a ‘referendum’ is a political tool to galvanize public opinion, more often used to make an unconventional decision palatable to the citizens. AAP convener Kejriwal, in the past, has often chosen the referendum route for making difficult decisions. When the Anna Hazare anti-corruption campaign was at a crossroads on whether to continue as a movement or morph into a political party, Kejriwal sought the people’s opinion. Similarly, when AAP won 28 seats in 2013 and fell short of the eight more needed to form the government, Kejriwal relied on the opinion of the public, and ‘referendums’ were conducted in every assembly constituency of Delhi on whether to form the government by taking the support of the Congress. Recently, when AAP had to declare a chief ministerial face for Punjab, it sought public opinion.
The Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, responded by stating that this is a new drama by Kejriwal to divert attention from his corrupt government. Bidhuri claimed that Kejriwal is attempting to gain sympathy in case of an arrest, asserting, “Kejriwal has become a master of all scams. He realized that sooner or later he would be arrested. That’s why he is doing all this drama,” Bidhuri added. Criticizing AAP convener Kejriwal, Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva said that Kejriwal should train his volunteers to answer questions about the “corruption” and “failure” of his government in developing the city. “AAP leaders are free to go home to home to carry out a signature campaign, but when they go to people, they should be prepared to answer people’s questions on how party leaders did the liquor scam, Jal Board scam, tanker scam, panic button scam, school room scam, and how they have played with the livelihoods of contractual workers like civil defense volunteers, guest teachers, para-medical staff,” he said.
Chadha stated that the BJP is doing everything possible to weaken and eliminate AAP. He mentioned that AAP doesn’t make any decision without asking the public, which is why they are starting this signature campaign. Through this campaign, by going door-to-door, they will collect opinions from the people of Delhi on whether, by casting their precious votes, they made Kejriwal their elder son, their brother, the Chief Minister. Chadha added, “If the BJP arrests Kejriwal, should he resign, or should he run the government from jail? The opinions of the people in the signature campaign will be presented to everyone.”
Earlier this month, the Enforcement Directorate had summoned Kejriwal for questioning in a money laundering case linked to the alleged excise policy scam. Kejriwal skipped the summons, calling them “illegal,” and traveled to poll-bound Madhya Pradesh to address a rally, alleging that the federal anti-money laundering agency was acting at the behest of the BJP to malign his image.
