AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday, strongly slammed Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar of acting as the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) stooge in a desperate bid for a post-retirement job. Condemning the ECI for turning a blind eye to blatant election malpractice, Arvind Kejriwal declared that he suspects that he will be arrested in the next two days and history will never forgive Rajiv Kumar for the irreparable damage he has inflicted on India’s democratic system.
Highlighting that Delhi’s election process has been reduced to a sham under the Election Commission’s watch, Arvind Kejriwal exposed how cash and blankets are being openly distributed to influence voters while the ECI looks the other way. In a fiery challenge, he dared Rajiv Kumar to step out of his bureaucratic cover and contest an election against him if he wants to engage in politics. Senior AAP Leaders including Satyendar Jain, MP Sanjay Singh and CM Atishi were also present at the interaction.
Responding to a media query at the AAP Headquarters on Thursday, Arvind Kejriwal addressed the Election Commission of India (ECI) with due respect. He said: “Cash is being openly distributed in Delhi, but they fail to see it. Every day, blankets are being distributed—even yesterday evening, blankets were handed out. But they don’t notice that either. We even pointed out whose house is being used to store the money, yet they turn a blind eye to it.”
Asserting that the ECI is engaging in politics, he said that CEC Rajiv Kumar wants a post-retirement job after February 28, which is why he has turned into a political agent despite his constitutional post. “I want to tell Rajiv Kumar Ji—history will not forgive you. The amount of damage you have done to the Election Commission, I don’t think the Election Commission has ever been tarnished this badly in India’s history.”
He added, “I know that within two days, they will put me in jail. Go ahead, put me in jail. The kind of language the Election Commission has used today is unprecedented. This is not the job of the Election Commission.”
Throwing an open challenge, he continued, “If Rajiv Kumar wants to engage in politics, he should contest an election. Let him stand as a candidate from any assembly seat in Delhi. Right now, there is lawlessness in Delhi. Cash is being openly distributed. Blankets are being openly handed out.The people of this country have never seen an election like this before.”
He concluded, “I will also send three bottles of ammonia-contaminated water to the Election Commission and Rajiv Kumar. Let all three Election Commissioners drink this water in a press conference. If they do, we will accept that we were wrong.”
