If INDIA bloc wins, I will come back on June 5, says Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi, May 13

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said the people of Delhi “love and respect AAP leaders because of their work”.

Addressing party councillors for the first time after the Supreme Court granted him interim bail, Kejriwal exhorted them to work hard in their wards. He called upon the councillors to carry out the cleanliness work with dedication.

‘God is with us’

I don’t know what hatred Modi has harboured against me and AAP that he is hell-bent on crushing the party. — Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister

Apart from the councillors, AAP national general secretary (organisation) Sandeep Pathak, AAP Delhi convener Gopal Rai, Mayor Shelly Oberoi, Deputy Mayor Aaley Muhammad Iqbal and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) incharge Durgesh Pathak were present at the meeting.

In the run-up to the voting for the Lok Sabha elections, Kejriwal on Sunday held a meeting with senior party leaders and the MLAs. He praised them for remaining united in his absence and “working to ensure that the people of Delhi did not face any problem in getting electricity, water and medicines”.

Addressing the councillors, the Chief Minister said, “They (BJP-led Central Government) had sent me to jail thinking that after putting Kejriwal behind bars, his party would disintegrate, his councillors and MLAs would disintegrate, and they would break half of the MLAs and councillors. They thought that they would topple the government in Delhi and MCD. The result was exactly the opposite. We always say that the AAP is not a party, it a family.”

Kejriwal said, “Till three months ago, it seemed that they (BJP) would get more than 400 seats. Today, people in the country is betting whether they will get 250 seats or not… The order passed by the Supreme Court on Friday seems as if it is a miracle.”

The CM said two CCTV cameras were installed in his cell to monitor his activities. “These recordings were played in the offices of 13 officers. These people were continuously monitoring my activities,” he alleged.

“We have also learnt that the jail authorities had given the CCTV feed of my activities to the Prime Minister’s Office… Because he wanted to know if Kejriwal was broken. Kejriwal is not going to break like this. They think it is very easy to break Kejriwal,” he added.

Talking about the campaigning for the INDIA bloc, he said, “I will try to go to most of the places in the next 21 days to campaign for the INDIA bloc. I have been receiving invitations from candidates from several states.”

Addressing the councillors, Kejriwal said he will be watching the Lok Sabha election results from jail. “If you work hard and make the INDIA bloc win, I will come back on June 5. If you don’t work hard, let’s see when we will meet again,” he told the councillors.