Arrest me or I will arrest you, dares Kejri; Majithia unfazed

AMRITSAR:Aam Aadmi Party convener and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal today dared Punjab Revenue Minister Bikram Majithia to arrest him within six months (during the SAD-BJP’s remaining tenure) or else he would have him (Majithia) arrested after that.

Arvind Kejriwal and AAP leaders wave at party workers in Amritsar on Friday. photo: vishal kumar

GS Paul

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 29

Aam Aadmi Party convener and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal today dared Punjab Revenue Minister Bikram Majithia to arrest him within six months (during the SAD-BJP’s remaining tenure) or else he would have him (Majithia) arrested after that.

“It's a matter of ‘aaj bail kal jail’ for this arrogant leader (Kejriwal). He cannot escape the law,” the Minister hit back. “I am glad the Delhi CM has been dragged to court for maligning my name,” he said amid cheering by supporters.

Thronged by a huge crowd, Kejriwal and his party colleague Sanjay Singh appeared in a local court and procured bail on a bond of Rs 40,000 each. The defamation case will now come up for hearing on October 15, said AAP leader and Supreme Court lawyer HS Phoolka. He said Ashish Khetan had already been exempted from personal appearance.

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It turned out to be a parallel show of strength between the Revenue Minister and the AAP convener. Policemen in large numbers were deployed en route the district courts. Police Commissioner Amar Singh Chahal himself supervised the security arrangements.

About 15,000 - 20,000 AAP volunteers had gathered near the Circuit House by the time Kejriwal, who was accompanied by Bhagwant Mann, Sangrur MP, and Punjab convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur, arrived there.

The police reportedly stopped AAP volunteers barely a kilometre from the court even as Akali Dal workers gathered there in large numbers.

The AAP volunteers were seen carrying placards, which read: “Main ek var nahin hazaar var kahanga, Bikram Majithia chitte da taskar hai (I will say not once, but a thousand times that Majithia smuggles drugs).”

Solely focusing on the drug menace, Kejriwal claimed that hoardings across Punjab describing Majithia as a “druglord” clearly indicated the people had made up their mind to oust the Akalis. “Not just me, Ashish Khetan and Sanjay Singh, but lakhs of Punjabis call Majithia a drug trafficker. I ask Majithia, how many defamation cases will he file?” he thundered.

He said that when the Badal government could pressurise him, Delhi Chief Minister, by implicating him in a false case, he could well understand the harassment faced by the common man (aam aadmi) in Punjab.