Kejriwal hits back at Shah: ‘Should those who induct corrupt leaders into their parties also resign’

Should leaders who induct “corrupt” individuals into their parties and reward them with positions also resign from their posts, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal said on Monday in a swipe at Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Kejriwal was responding to a post by the office of Amit Shah, which quoted the minister’s remarks on the controversial Bills that seek to bar prime ministers, chief ministers, and ministers from holding office if they remain in jail for 30 days or more.

In the remarks, Shah questioned the appropriateness of ministers, chief ministers, or prime ministers accused of corruption or crimes punishable with more than five years in prison running the government from jail.

Responding with a post on X in Hindi, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo said, “If a person includes people guilty of serious crimes in their political party, clears all their cases and makes them ministers, deputy chief ministers or chief ministers—should such a minister or prime minister also resign from their post?

“How many years of jail should such a person receive? If someone is falsely accused and sent to jail, and later proven innocent, then how many years of jail should the minister who framed the false case get?”

The AAP has often accused the BJP of inducting tainted leaders accused of serious offences into their party, frequently referring to the BJP as a “washing machine”. The Kejriwal-led party has also alleged that he and its other leaders have been arrested by central probe agencies in false cases at the behest of the BJP-led central government.

Kejriwal was arrested in March last year by the Enforcement Directorate in an excise policy-linked money laundering case, making him the first sitting chief minister to be arrested.

In another post, Kejriwal said, “When the Centre, under a political conspiracy, falsely implicated me in a case and sent me to jail, I ran the government from jail for 160 days.”

He said that in the past seven months, the BJP government in Delhi has brought the city to such a state that the people of Delhi are now remembering the government that functioned from jail.

“At least during the time of the jail-run government, there were no power cuts, water was available, free medicines were provided in hospitals and mohalla clinics, free tests were conducted, a single spell of rain didn’t wreak such havoc in Delhi, and private schools were not allowed to act arbitrarily or engage in hooliganism,” he said.

The government introduced the Constitution (130^th Amendment) Bill, 2025, during the Monsoon session of Parliament, which has been criticised by a section of parties that allege that it will allow the targeting of political opponents. PTI