The padayatra (march) of former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, which started from Greater Kailash on August 16, reached Janakpuri Assembly constituency Thursday on its 10th day. The enthusiastic crowd of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers and supporters welcomed him very warmly.
In a dialogue with the people of Janakpuri, Manish Sisodia said the CBI and the ED are being constantly pulled up in the Supreme Court. Now soon, Arvind Kejriwal will also come out free. Till now, whatever allegations were levelled against the leaders of Aam Aadmi Party, all the leaders have come out clean in all of them. We will come out of this mess untainted because we have not done anything wrong.
The supporters were very excited to find him among them after 17 months and they raised slogans of ‘Manish Sisodia has come, Kejriwal will also come’. School children welcomed the father of the education revolution in Delhi by holding placards of ‘Welcome Manish Sir’. On this occasion, party MLAs, councilors and a large number of workers were also present.
The former Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi said that you all prayed so much that all the conspiracies of the BJP failed. Their conspiracy was to keep me in jail by any means till the Delhi elections. The BJP people also used to say that now they will not let Manish Sisodia come out till the Delhi elections. But while saying this, the BJP people used to forget that I have the blessings of so many people.
“All the conspiracies of the BJP on one side and the blessings of the people on the other side. These are the blessings of the people, the constitution of the country and democracy. Ultimately democracy, prayers and truth won. They made many false allegations against us. They are not making these allegations against us from today, ever since Arvind Kejriwal came into politics and this party was formed, the BJP has been making allegations against our MLAs and councilors. The court also reprimanded their investigation agencies for being biased against us,” he stated.
Manish Sisodia said that this time the BJP used all its tricks and hatched such a conspiracy of lies and deceit and misused the investigation agencies that I, Sanjay Singh, and Arvind Kejriwal had to go to jail. I was in jail for 17 months, I used to sleep on a mat under a fan even in the scorching heat. But believe me that I did not have any problem with it, because when I used to see on TV that our councilors, MLAs and all the workers remained united like a family, forming a fist, no one broke. Seeing this, all my problems used to vanish.
He stated, “When I came out of jail, the BJP people started saying that you have come out smiling a lot. They thought that I would come out shedding tears. But the one who has committed theft will shed tears and will be afraid. I have come to do politics of honesty; I am doing politics of honesty. If the BJP people have the guts, then they should prove corruption of even a penny.”
Manish Sisodia said that these investigation agencies belong to the BJP, they can do anything. “Yesterday, the Supreme Court also reprimanded the ED, the CBI and said, what is this that you catch any passerby and put him in jail, take his statement and then say that Kejriwal had asked for money. If the case is still on, more truth will come out. Arvind Kejriwal and his party leaders have come out clean from all the allegations that have been leveled against them so far. This time they have pushed us into the ‘kajal ki kothari’ because they thought that the old saying would be true that no matter who goes into the ‘kajal ki kothari’, a leak is found. But today I am standing among you with my chest puffed up and I guarantee that very soon Arvind Kejriwal and his entire team will come out of this ‘kajal ki kothari’ without any stain on them (Arvind Kejriwal and his entire team will come out of this mess untainted),” he assured.
The former deputy CM said that if Arvind Kejriwal had to do anything dishonest, would he have gotten into alcohol? He has provided 200 units of free electricity to every household, if he wanted, he could have made 150 units and earned a lot from that. If he had to do anything dishonest, he would not have made bus fares free, would not have made schools for children excellent, would not have built Mohalla clinics.
“Arvind Kejriwal has worked hard for 9 years. The people of Delhi have also given him a lot of love and have kept him in their hearts. In return, Arvind Kejriwal has also worked hard. Wherever the BJP people tried to stop the work, Kejriwal fought and got it completed. He introduced Mohalla clinics and installed CCTV cameras everywhere. Even when we started making schools excellent and started sending teachers for training to Finland, Singapore, Britain and Cambridge University, the BJP felt that if this continued, it would be a problem for them, they have a government in so many states, but they never gave such training to any teacher. That is why the BJP stopped this in Delhi, but we fought and sent teachers to Cambridge and Finland. Arvind Kejriwal did not let any work of Delhi stop. The BJP people were not letting the electricity bill be zero, but we fought and got it done,” he stated.
Manish Sisodia said that these people had put me in jail for one and a half years. Now they have put Arvind Kejriwal in jail for 6 months. But don’t worry, Arvind Kejriwal will come out. With the enthusiasm and smile with which I came out, Arvind Kejriwal will come out with even more enthusiasm and smile. “And together with all of us, we will fight and get the stalled work of Delhi completed. But we will not let any work stop,” he said.
Manish Sisodia said a BJP person said to me that how long will you stay in jail, look for some ‘Jugaad’ (way-out) here and there. I said that I have come out of the Jantar-Mantar movement, I used to sleep by spreading newspaper. The jail people have even then given me a mat to sleep on. Earlier also, many times when I did not get a seat while travelling by train, I used to sleep on the floor after spreading a newspaper. I told them that even if you keep me in jail for another 6 months, I will not change.
He continued that these BJP people will face the consequences themselves. We do not need to tell them anything. His own family members will scold him that who are you standing against? Thank you very much for giving so much love and respect. “You people have worked very hard for 17 months while staying outside. Even while I was in jail, I was proud that I came to jail fighting. When I used to feel pain, it was only seeing our workers protesting outside and getting beaten by the police. Our workers are fighting, the work of the people of Delhi is being stopped. But then when I came out, I saw that everyone is standing together with enthusiasm,” he said.
While meeting people during the padyatra in Janakpuri, Manish Sisodia said that he is getting a lot of love from people everywhere. Many shopkeepers, women, elderly, youth are saying that you made us wait a lot. We were waiting for you for a long time. There is a lot of love in the hearts of the people. The BJP is afraid of this, they are worried that our government is working, whereas the BJP does not do any work anywhere. The BJP was afraid that the Aam Aadmi Party government is working, due to which we have made a place among the people. They wanted to stop us at any cost, so they conspired to put us in jail, but they could not stop our work. It is being proved that the BJP makes allegations, later all those allegations are proved false.
Manish Sisodia said, “Many people are coming to me and saying that BJP people did a very wrong thing. They took a lot of time to get you out. A fake case was filed without any reason. People are saying that BJP had forcibly kept me locked up for political reasons. Arvind Kejriwal has also been locked up. People are confident that the way I have come out, soon Arvind Kejriwal will also come out and the work of Delhi will start happening at the same speed as before. The BJP is misusing the investigation agencies a lot. People have come to know how the ED and the CBI are being pulled up in the Supreme Court that they scolded and threatened people and put them in jail and took false statements from them and released them only after taking false testimony against Arvind Kejriwal. Their agencies have been exposed in the Supreme Court too, all the conspiracies of the BJP have failed and now soon Arvind Kejriwal will also be free and come out,” he asserted.