NEW DELHI: A day after being released from Tihar on guaranteeformer deputy CM Manish Sisodia said a “conspiracy” was being hatched to sabotage the AAP national convention Arvind Kejriwal and his work and called on all opposition parties and NDA allies to join hands to fight the “dictatorship” in the country.
Sisodia said that if the entire opposition comes together, Kejriwal will be out of jail within 24 hours. He urged the AAP workers to work immediately to ensure BJP’s defeat in the upcoming assembly polls in Haryana, Delhi and other states.
A senior functionary of AAP was addressing party workers at the party headquarters on Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg. He had earlier visited Hanuman Mandir in Connaught Place and Rajghat to pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi.
Sisodia spent more than 17 months in Tihar jail for the case of alleged corruption in its formulation and implementation. Delhi Excise Policy from 2021-22. Kejriwal was also jailed in the same case. When giving bail on Friday, Supreme Court He said that he was imprisoned for 17 months without a trial and was deprived of the right to speedy justice.
Calling on party workers and people to fight against tyranny, Sisodia said it was not just a matter of putting leaders in jail, but also of harassing citizens. He warned the BJP’s “new allies” in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the INDIA bloc constituencies that their turn will also come if they do not unite against the “dictatorship”.
“I want to tell our coalition allies of India and those in the NDA that we have to fight together, not for ourselves, but for the country,” Sisodia said.
Without taking the name of Vinesh Phogat or the Olympian, Sisodia said that the wrestler had protested against BJP officials and people saw what happened after that. A senior AAP leader said he was crying, some “game” must have been played somewhere. “Our daughter from a village raised the Indian banner in the world of sports, and when she said that your party leaders are harassing us, she was not arrested. Everyone knows what she did and who did it,” Sisodia said.
Phogat, who was disqualified from the Paris Olympics after being found 100 grams overweight before the final bout in the women’s 50kg wrestling event, is at the forefront of protests against former Indian Wrestling Federation chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who has been accused of sexual harassment by female wrestlers.
Sisodia claimed that while in jail, he was not worried about getting bail but was concerned to see hundreds of businessmen put in jail on “false cases just because they did not donate money to the BJP”.
Calling Kejriwal a “symbol of honesty” in the country, Sisodia alleged that the excise policy case was a “web of conspiracy” by the ED-CBI to “tarnish” his image. Delhi CM. Sisodia said he came out of jail because of the blessings of Lord Hanuman and Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Constitution and hoped Kejriwal would also come out.
“We are just a chariot horse, but our ‘saarthi’ (driver) is still in jail. He has a great blessing from Lord Hanuman and he will come out soon,” said Sisodia, raising the slogan ‘Bhrashtachar ka ek hi kaal , Kejriwal, Kejriwal” (Kejriwal is the nemesis of corruption).
The former Deputy CM said before his arrest, he had thought he would be out of jail in seven to eight months, but it took 17 months for him to be released. Appreciating the team of lawyers, including Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi, for putting in so much effort and hard work for his release, Sisodia said the Supreme Court had also used the power of the Constitution to “trample the dictatorship”. He said BJP is trying to keep him, Kejriwal and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh in jail by invoking serious charges against them, which are used against terrorists and drug mafias. “He thought Kejriwal, Sanjay Singh and Sisodia will rot in jail. But God helps those who walk on the right path,” the AAP leader said.
In fact, Sisodia’s long stint in jail seems to have had no effect on his psyche. They
said he read about 300 books in prison including the Gita and various interpretations and those in the world’s education system.
“I realize India can be a developed country by 2047 if we ensure good quality government schools, health and employment. I can’t be a visionary,” said an AAP official.
Sisodia also praised the MLAs, party officials and volunteers for not giving in to threats and remaining united amid pressure from the BJP. “We cannot be broken because we were formed from the soil on which Bhagat Singh fell, Mahatma Gandhi was shot,” he said.
Sisodia also alleged that the people of Delhi were being harassed by stopping the funds of the Delhi Jal Board for one and a half years and transferring 10,000 teachers with just one stroke. “This is also a dictatorship that we have to fight against,” Sisodia said.
Before Sisodia, senior AAP leader and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh urged party workers to work hard to win all 70 assembly seats in the capital and ensure that BJP candidates lose their security deposits.