Arvind Kejriwal in Rajkot
NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, on a three-day visit to Gujarat, on Monday held an interaction with party workers in Rajkot to discuss the upcoming municipal corporation elections. He stated confidently that the next mayor of Rajkot would be from the AAP. He added that the people of Rajkot had placed their trust in the AAP by giving the party 18% of votes in the previous election, and that this trust has grown ‘significantly’ since then.Kejriwal said that the time has come for the BJP, which has been in power for 30 years, to leave. “In 30 years, Singapore became a developed nation, while the BJP has completely ruined Gujarat in these 30 years. The wheel of time has turned. Now Gujarat will have a people’s government. Whatever the people say will be done.”’88 children of farmers were arrested without any reason’While interacting with workers, Kejriwal said that farmers’ children were arrested in ‘panic’ during a peaceful protest. He explained that the farmers had gathered peacefully to protest against the ‘Karda Pratha’ and to demand their rights. “The Constitution gives every citizen the right to peaceful protest, yet the protesters were lathi-charged, falsely implicated, and jailed,” he stated. The AAP chief further revealed that out of the 88 arrested, 42 have been granted bail, while 46 are still in jail. “This is how the British used to treat us. Gujarat is the land of Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel, who drove the British out of the country. “The British also believed no one could remove them from India. But Gandhi and Patel drove them out. Today, the BJP thinks the same—that because they’ve ruled for 30 years, no one can remove them. Two years remain. After two years, the people of Gujarat will throw the BJP out,” Kejriwal said. ‘Gujarat will no longer tolerate oppression’Kejriwal said this kind of ‘dictatorship’ and ‘brutality’ in Gujarat would no longer be tolerated. The BJP thought they could break the farmers’ spirit through repression, but instead, they united the farmers of Gujarat.”Villagers from the areas where arrests were made came together to work on the farms of those arrested, showing solidarity like one family,” he remarked. ‘In 30 years, Gujarat has fallen behind’Kejriwal criticised the state of infrastructure in Gujarat, saying the roads are in terrible condition: “In 30 years, Singapore became a developed nation. Gujarat has been under BJP rule for 30 years, and they have ruined it.”He accused the BJP of failing to build proper roads, run schools, or improve hospitals. He alleged widespread drug trade across Gujarat and claimed that anyone who speaks against the BJP is slapped with FIRs.He added that he is ready to ‘sacrifice’ his life for the country, even if he is jailed.‘Be prepared for FIRs-AAP will stand by its workers’Kejriwal warned that FIRs might be filed against the AAP workers as well, but assured them that he stands firmly with them. “If they send you to jail, I will get you released,” he said.He also assured that the remaining 46 of the 88 arrested would also be freed in the coming days. “If needed, we can stay in jail for a month or two for the country. Sardar Patel and Mahatma Gandhi also went to jail.”He promised that once AAP forms the government in Gujarat in two years, all ‘false’ FIRs would be withdrawn.Quoting the Bhagavad Gita, Kejriwal said, “When the wheel of time turns, it shakes even the biggest thrones.” He warned that those sending innocent people to jail today may themselves end up behind bars one day. Go to Source
