What about those inducting criminals: Kejri hits back at HM

Former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday, in a cryptic response to Home Minister Amit Shah’s comments that he (Kejriwal) had ruled Delhi from jail and refused to resign, sought to know what would be done to a leader who inducts hardened criminals into his party, helps them wipe off their cases and then rewards them.

Kejriwal said, “Should such a minister or PM not be forced to step down? How many years of imprisonment should such a person face?”

The AAP convener further sought to know that “finally, if someone is falsely implicated in a case, sent to jail, and later acquitted, how many years of jail should the minister responsible for framing that false case get?”

In an interview with a news agency on Monday, Shah, answering questions on the 130th Constitutional Amendment Bill, while alluding to Kejriwal, had asked if it was “fair for ministers, chief ministers or even the prime minister — accused of corruption or facing charges with more than five years’ punishment — to run the government from jail?” The 130th amendment Bill entails removal of the PM, CMs and ministers if they are in jail for more than 30 days under a serious offence carrying a punishment of five years or more.

Kejriwal further attacked Shah by saying that his 160-day government from jail was better than the present BJP-led Delhi Government.

“When the Centre conspired to frame me in false cases and sent me to jail, I ran the government for 160 days from behind bars. In the past seven months, the BJP government in Delhi has dragged the city into such a mess that people now recall those jail days of governance. At least back then, the power and water were available, medicines were free in hospitals and mohalla clinics, medical tests were free, one spell of rain didn’t throw the city into chaos and private schools weren’t given a free hand to extort and bully parents,” the former Delhi CM said in the post on X.

Kejriwal had refused to step down as CM when he was jailed over the alleged scam linked to the scrapped Delhi liquor policy and continued to serve as chief minister from Tihar jail.