Expressing concern over the “state of the country”, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said he will perform puja the entire day on Holi for the country's betterment and issued a public appeal asking the people of the country to keep former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and former AAP minister Satyendar Jain in their prayers. This comes a day after Sisodia was sent to judicial custody. He also hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the arrests of two of his top ministers, Sisodia and Jain.
Meanwhile, the Opposition and political experts have termed his move to perform puja on Holi, as ‘political gimmick’, ahead of the Karnataka assembly polls to woo majoritarian votes or to dent BJP vote bank.
Leader of Opposition Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said that this means he won’t celebrate holi on Wednesday. Last year, Kejriwal asked for Indian currency notes to feature images of Hindu Gods Ganesha and Laxmi along with that of Mahatma Gandhi in a bid to stem the slide of rupee against dollar ahead of the Gujarat assembly polls, triggering a political storm.
Addressing a digital press conference, he said he was worried about the state of affairs in the country. "Everyone knows that government schools and hospitals are in a bad shape... But two people -- Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain -- who improved these government schools and hospitals are in jail," he said. "A nation whose Prime Minister puts those providing good education and medical treatment to the people behind bars and supports those who loot the country, the situation of that country is very worrying," Kejriwal said.
"They are very brave. They can die for the country. No one can break their resolve. I am worried about the state of the country. There is no one to work for common man or listen to the common man," he said.
After 75 years, there is a person who has given the poorest the kind of education that was available only to the rich. That person is Manish Sisodia. Government hospitals across the country are in bad shape. After 75 years of independence, a person changed the face of health facilities and provided a new health model with mohalla clinics. That person is Satyendar Jain. But they are thrown in jail on false charges," he said.
“I have decided that I will pray and perform pooja the entire day on Holi for better of the country. If you also think that the Prime Minister's actions are not correct, if you are too worried about the condition of the country, then I have an appeal -- After celebrating Holi, please take out some time to join me performing pooja for (betterment of) the country,” he added.
In a related development, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) Tuesday questioned and recorded the statement of Sisodia as part of its money laundering probe into alleged irregularities in the excise policy matter. The ED investigators reached the Tihar Jail to record the statement of Sisodia under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
As the AAP stepped up its attack on the BJP and also maintained that the CBI had no grounds to seek Sisodia's further interrogation, the Congress sought to clear the air over its stand on his arrest, asserting that the allegations in the Delhi excise policy case are serious and must be probed.