New Delhi, April 15
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann met Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal in a jail on Monday and alleged that he was being “treated like a terrorist”.
Mann along with AAP’s national general secretary (organisation) Sandeep Pathak met Kejriwal for about 30 minutes, the party said.
Talking to mediapersons, Mann alleged that Kejriwal was being “treated as a terrorist” and had been denied facilities even given to hardcore criminals.
“We were made to talk on the phone through a glass wall. The glass was so dirty that we could not even see each other’s faces clearly.” Mann said.
Attacking the BJP, he said, “It is very sad to see that Kejriwal is not even getting the facilities that a hardcore criminal gets. What is his crime? That he built schools, hospitals, mohalla clinics and gave free electricity to the public?”
Mann said according to the jail manual, face-to-face meeting can be allowed if the conduct of the inmate is good in the jail. Referring to former minister P Chidambaram’s case, he said whenever Congress leader Sonia Gandhi used to come to meet him, she was allowed in-person meeting.
“Kejriwal is an honest person, who started politics of transparency and ended the politics of the BJP. Very sad to see such that behaviour is being meted out to him,” he said.
In a political message, Mann said Kejriwal was concerned about the people of Delhi. The Delhi CM asked whether people were getting the facilities of free electricity, water, medical treatment in hospitals and free bus ride for women.
“I told him that Punjab is doing well. I have visited Assam and Kurukshetra, will go to Gujarat on Tuesday. I will campaign in Delhi also. AAP is an ideology, you can arrest a person, but how will you arrest an ideology?” Mann said.
Denying allegations of the defections in the party after Kejriwal’s arrest, Mann said AAP was a disciplined party and it was united.
Pathak said from the next week, Kejriwal would call two ministers in jail and review the progress of works of their departments. Pathak said as soon as they went to meet Kejriwal, Bhagwant Mann became emotional and his eyes were filled with tears.
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