Will surrender on June 2, going to save country: Delhi CM
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal to surrender on Sunday as interim bail term ends, proud to go to jail to save country from dictatorship.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said that he will surrender on Sunday, on the completion of the interim bail term granted to him by the Supreme Court on May 10, and added that he was proud that he was going to jail to save the country from dictatorship.
Kejriwal was arrested by Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering probe related to the now scrapped Delhi excise policy 2021-2022 case on March 21. He was sent to Tihar jail in judicial custody on April 1. The Supreme Court granted the Aam Aadmi Party leader interim bail on May 10 to campaign for the Lok Sabha elections. The court had directed Kejriwal to surrender before the authorities on June 2.
“I will surrender the day after tomorrow, I will leave my house at around 3pm to surrender. It is possible that this time they will torture me more, but I will not bow down,” Kejriwal said in a video message.
“The Supreme Court had given me 21 days to campaign for the elections. Tomorrow (June 1), 21 days will be over, I have to surrender day after tomorrow (June 2). I will go back to Tihar Jail day after tomorrow. I don’t know how many days these people will keep me in jail this time. But my spirits are high. I am proud that I am going to jail to save the country from dictatorship. They tried to break me in many ways, tried to force me to bow down, tried to silence me. But they did not succeed,” Kejriwal said.
Citing his health condition, the Delhi chief minister said that he was “tortured in jail” in many ways, indirectly blaming the Bharatiya Janata Party for it. “They [BJP[ stopped my medicines. I have been a diabetes patient for the last 20 years. For the last 10 years, I have been getting insulin injections daily. But in jail, they stopped my insulin injections for many days, and my sugar levels reached 300, 325 mg/dL. If the sugar remains so high for so many days, then the kidney and liver gets damaged. I don’t know what these people wanted, why did they do this?” Kejriwal said.
{{/usCountry}}Citing his health condition, the Delhi chief minister said that he was “tortured in jail” in many ways, indirectly blaming the Bharatiya Janata Party for it. “They [BJP[ stopped my medicines. I have been a diabetes patient for the last 20 years. For the last 10 years, I have been getting insulin injections daily. But in jail, they stopped my insulin injections for many days, and my sugar levels reached 300, 325 mg/dL. If the sugar remains so high for so many days, then the kidney and liver gets damaged. I don’t know what these people wanted, why did they do this?” Kejriwal said.
{{/usCountry}}Kejriwal’s message came a day before the last phase of polling for the general elections on June 1, in which all 13 seats of Punjab are going to polls. The AAP, which is the ruling party in Punjab, is contesting 13 seats. In 2019 polls, the AAP had won one seat of the 13 that it contested.
{{/usCountry}}Kejriwal’s message came a day before the last phase of polling for the general elections on June 1, in which all 13 seats of Punjab are going to polls. The AAP, which is the ruling party in Punjab, is contesting 13 seats. In 2019 polls, the AAP had won one seat of the 13 that it contested.
{{/usCountry}}“When I went to jail, my weight was 70 kg. Today, it is 64 kg. Even after being released from jail, my weight is not increasing. Doctors are saying that this can also be a sign of some major disease. Many tests need to be done, ketone levels in my urine has also increased a lot,” Kejriwal said in the video address.
The Delhi CM moved a pair of bail applications in Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court on Thursday. In the first bail application Kejriwal sought regular bail and in the second he sought interim bail for seven days on medical grounds. AAP has said that Arvind Kejriwal has suffered unexplained weight loss during his incarceration and his ketones levels are high which could be signs of critical illness and that he needs bail to undergo multiple health tests suggested by doctors.
The Delhi CM also assured the people that all facilities such as free electricity, water and free bus rides for women will continue even in his absence.“Wherever I am, inside or outside the jail, I will not let the work of Delhi stop. Your free electricity, Mohalla clinics, hospitals, free medicines, treatment, free bus travel for women, 24 hour electricity and all other work will continue. After returning from jail, I will also start giving ₹1,000 every month to every mother and sister,” Kejriwal said.
He also appealed to the people to pray for the health of his parents. “...my parents are very old, my mother is very ill, I worry a lot about her in jail. Take care of my parents after I am gone, pray for them. Prayers have great power. If you pray for my mother daily, she will definitely remain healthy,” Kejriwal said.
Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said Kejriwal is suffering from a “serious illness of lying”. “Pretending to be sick and seeking sympathy is his nature, and the people of Delhi and Punjab understand this. If Arvind Kejriwal was really so sick, then how did he engage in political tourism and election campaigning? Regarding the increase in level of ketones in his urine, it actually occurs due to drinking less water in the heat. So, it seems like he is inviting diseases himself so that he can show his illness to the medical board. The court is doing its job and there is a medical team there which will check him as well,” Sachdeva said.
