Senior AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj on Monday said this will be the first election in the country, in which a Chief Minister is saying that this election will be fought in the name of honesty and that too at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi has unleashed all his agencies to harass and defame Arvind Kejriwal.
Addressing media persons here today, senior AAP leader and cabinet minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said the entire world is shocked over the developments of yesterday, everybody in the country is talking about it. This has not happened in the history of the country that a sitting chief minister after his release from jail is stepping down, asking people to vote for him if they consider him honest. For the first time in history, an election will be fought on the issue of honesty.
He said in this country elections are fought on the grounds of caste, religion and region. This is for the first time that elections will be fought on the issue of honesty, that too, when the BJP-led central government with its various agencies, including ED, CBI, Income Tax department, ACB is after the chief minister of Delhi. And no stone has been left unturned to defame the Delhi government for the last two years. Despite that, the chief minister has full faith in his electorate and in his honesty that he is seeking a vote on his honesty. This is a historic development that has taken place.
“Since yesterday, people of Delhi in every nook and corner are discussing that the conspiracy hatched by Prime minister Narendra Modi through his government and various agencies to trap Arvind Kejriwal failed yesterday when the chief minister said that he would go to the court of people. That I will give Agni Pariksha before the people of Delhi and when they say that our chief minister is honest, then only I will sit on the CM’s chair,” said the senior AAP leader.
He said everybody is eagerly looking forward to an early election in Delhi and excited to participate in the election in Delhi to re-elect Arvind Kejriwal at the earliest.
Saurabh Bharadwaj said some people are lauding the decision of the chief minister not to have resigned when he was in jail. “One person said had he resigned during incarceration, the BJP would have claimed that he resigned succumbing to their pressure. The chief minister took a wise decision that he came out of jail and resigned of his own accord,” quoted the senior AAP leader.
Quoting another person from Lajpat Nagar, Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “Even the traders in Lajpat Nagar _ most of them BJP supporters _ are appreciating the fact that a chief minister is stepping down of his own volition and is seeking public referendum on his honesty. That I will sit on the CM’s chair only if the people of Delhi are of the view that I am honest.”
The senior AAP leader said that by and large, people of Delhi are upset with the BJP for having used all its might to harass the elected chief minister to the extent of sending him to jail. “A chief minister who went to the IIT, qualified for the IRS exam, gave up the post of Commissioner, Income Tax and did social service for 10 years in the ‘jhuggis’ of Delhi, provided basic amenities to the people should not have been hounded by the central government,” he said.
Saurabh Bharadwaj said that after coming out of jail, the Chief Minister did not enjoy the power; he went to the court of the people and said that until the people declare him honest, he will not sit on the CM’s chair.
The senior AAP leader said some people are saying that they had heard that in the Satyug, Lord Rama had abandoned the throne due to circumstances and went on a 14-year exile. The wailing residents of Ayodhya were urging Lord Rama not to go, but abandoning his throne, He went on exile for his dignity. His brother Bharat, who got the throne, also kept waiting till Rama returned to take over the reins.
“Arvind Kejriwal is not Rama, Lord Rama is God. Arvind Kejriwal is Hanuman’s devotee, who, in turn, is Rama’s devotee. Arvind Kejriwal cannot be compared with Lord Rama. But the dignity for which Lord Rama abandoned his throne in the Tretayug, today, such an example is seen in the case of Arvind Kejriwal, who for his dignity and morality handed over the reins of his government to the people of Delhi. Arvind Kejriwal has said that if the people elect him, then only he will sit on the CM’s chair, else not,” said Saurabh Bharadwaj.