New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal issued a direct challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to arrest him and other Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders. The Delhi Chief Minister during a press conference announced that he, along with senior AAP leaders, will be present at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headquarters on Sunday.
“You can see how they (BJP) are after AAP. One after another, they are putting AAP leaders behind bars. They put me, Manish Sisodia, Satyendra Jain, and Sanjay Singh behind bars. Today they put my PA in jail. Now they are saying they will put Raghav Chadha, Atishi, and Saurabh Bharadwaj in jail. Maybe our fault is that we built schools and mohalla clinics, we provided free electricity, but they are unable to do it. I would like to tell the Prime Minister – you are playing this ‘jail ka khel’. Tomorrow, I am coming to the BJP headquarters with all my top leaders, MLAs, and MPs at 12 noon. You can put in jail whoever you want,” Arvind Kejriwal said.
He further said that the Aam Aadmi Party cannot be crushed, as it is not just a political party but an “ideology”.”You might be thinking that by putting AAP leaders in jail, you will be able to crush AAP but AAP is an ideology that has touched the hearts of people,” he said.
This statement comes in the wake of the detention of Kejriwal’s former aide, Bibhav Kumar, by the Delhi Police in connection with the assault case involving AAP MP Swati Maliwal. Bibhav Kumar has been detained by the Delhi Police. The former aide of the AAP supremo, meanwhile, emailed Delhi Police stating that he was ready to cooperate in the ongoing probe into Maliwal’s assault claim while adding that they should also take cognisance of his complaint.
Reacting to the arrest of the CM’s former aide, the chairperson of the National Commission for Women (NCW) Rekha Sharma posted from her official X handle, “Delhi CM’s aide Bibhav Kumar was arrested from his house. So, the CM was giving shelter to an alleged criminal.Bibhav, on Friday, lodged a counter-complaint with the police accusing Maliwal of gaining ‘unauthorised entry’ into the CM’s Civil Lines residence and ‘verbally abusing’ him.
In his complaint, Kejriwal’s former PA charged Maliwal with unauthorised entry, verbal abuse, and threats while also claiming the BJP’s involvement in the matter.
Meanwhile, Delhi Minister and AAP leader Atishi on Saturday claimed that Swati Maliwal filed the assault FIR against Arvind Kejriwal’s aide Bibhav Kumar at the behest of the ruling BJP.
The AAP leader said that the former DCW chief was being used as a ‘pawn’ and was made to ‘hatch this conspiracy’ using an old Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) case as leverage.
Maliwal in her complaint has alleged that Kejriwal’s Personal Secretary Bibhav Kumar “slapped” her “atleast seven to eight times” while she “continued screaming” and “brutally dragged” her while “kicking” her in her “chest, stomach and pelvis area.”Notably, the Vigilance Department had last month terminated the service of Bibhav Kumar, personal assistant (PA) to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, over a pending criminal case.
