New Delhi: In his first remarks after being released from the Tihar Jail, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Friday said he will continue to fight “anti-national” forces working to weaken the nation, and asserted the incarceration has only strengthened his resolve.
He stepped out of the jail Friday evening to a resounding welcome by party leaders and supporters who had gathered outside the prison amid heavy rains to welcome their leader who was released as the Supreme Court granted him bail after five months of incarceration.
“Truth triumphs over conspiracy (Sajish pe satya ki jeet hui hai),” Kejriwal posted on X after coming out of the jail.
Kejriwal’s bail comes as a big boost to the Aam Aadmi Party, which is seeking to make forays in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir in the coming elections and also gearing up to retain power in Delhi where polls are due early next year.
Read Also: SC has shown mirror to Delhi CM Kejriwal, he should resign: BJP
The AAP demanded that the BJP apologise to the country for keeping the “staunchly honest” leader in prison and asserted that the apex court bail in the excise policy case has exposed the saffron party’s “lies”.
The AAP dubbed central probe agencies CBI and ED as the government’s “tota-maina”.
Hitting out at the chief minister, the BJP said he should immediately step down as the Supreme Court has granted him only conditional bail and that he continues to be an accused in a corruption case linked to the excise policy ‘scam’.
“Accused of corruption, Arvind Kejriwal has become ‘a chief minister on bail from a chief minister in jail’. What influence, reputation and stature are left of this corrupt chief minister who will have to report to the investigation officer of the case every Monday and Thursday,” BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia told a press conference.
After being released from jail, the AAP supremo held a roadshow from Chandgiram Akhara to his official residence in Civil Lines area along with a large number of party leaders and workers carrying placards hailing him.
As the convoy moved on the nearly four kilometre stretch slowly, it also impacted the traffic flow in the busy evening hours.
The Supreme Court granted bail to Kejriwal in case lodged by the CBI in connection with the excise policy ‘scam’, saying prolonged incarceration amounts to unjust deprivation of liberty.
Observing that Kejriwal’s arrest by the CBI was unjustified, Supreme Court judge Justice Ujjal Bhuyan came down heavily on the probe agency, saying it must dispel the notion of being a “caged parrot”.
The Supreme Court granted bail to Kejriwal in the afternoon, and he was released from the jail in the evening.
Addressing party workers from the sunroof of a vehicle outside khe Jail, Kejriwal raised slogans of ‘Inquilab Zindabad’ and ‘Vande Mataram’.
“These anti-national forces that are trying to weaken the nation, divide the nation… I have always fought them and will continue fighting them,” he said and raised the slogan of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’.
The chief minister, who was arrested on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate in the excise policy-linked money laundering case and then by CBI in June in the corruption case linked to the policy, stressed that the jail time has strengthened his resolve.
“I have struggled a lot in my life and have braved huge difficulties but God has supported me at every step. He has supported me because I was truthful. They put me in jail. They thought that by putting me in jail, they will break my morale. My resolve has grown 100 times stronger and my strength has grown 100 times.
“The thick walls of the jail and the bars cannot break me,” he said. He thanked people who prayed for his release from jail. “My life is dedicated to the nation. Every moment of my life, every drop of my blood is dedicated to the nation.”
Hundreds of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers and senior leaders, including Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, were waiting outside the prison to welcome Kejriwal.
Drenched in rain, Mann, Sisodia raised slogans from atop a truck hailing Kejriwal.
Slogans like “Jail ke taale toot gaye, Kejriwal chhoot gaye”, “Bhrashtachar ka ek hi kaal, Kejriwal, Kejriwal” rent the air.
The 56-year-old, who has been the fulcrum of the AAP’s election campaigns, will have a crucial role to play if the party were to succeed in mounting any significant challenge to the BJP and the Congress in Haryana which votes on October 5.
Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh said the AAP will defeat the BJP in Haryana and Delhi. “Kejriwal’s presence will strengthen us,” he said.
The CM’s bail is expected to accelerate the Delhi government’s functioning which was affected due to his arrest, even as the top court has imposed certain conditions for his release, officials said on Friday.
The ruling AAP asserted that Kejriwal is “fully empowered” to give directions to all his ministers so that work can be done in public interest and added no measures for the welfare of people will be affected.
The AAP chief was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on June 26. He has challenged in the apex court the Delhi High Court’s August 5 order which upheld his arrest in the corruption case.
On July 12, the apex court had granted interim bail to Kejriwal in the money laundering case registered by the Enforcement Directorate.
PTI