Investigate And Punish Me, If Guilty: Arvind Kejriwal On 'Midnight Hawala' Row

Aam Admi Party chiefArvind Kejriwal speaks to NDTV's Barkha Dutt in a special townhall.

Here are the highlights:

• Kiran Bedi is a very nice lady. I like her. (on Kiran Bedi's comment that Mr Kejriwal is 'toxic')
• I feel sorry for Kiran Bedi. The party has put a gag order on Kiran Bedi and has barred her from speaking to any media.
• On Kiran Bedi being attacked by the Aam Aadmi Party - No one has launched personal attacks on Ms Bedi. This is why we wanted a debate on issues pertaining to this city.
• On Kiran Bedi refusing to debate with Arvind Kejriwal - I would like Barkha Dutt to modeate the debate and Ms Bedi would know that Arvind Kejriwal is not uncouth.
• We have never attacked someone personally.
• The elections being fought this time are very personal and dirty. People from the BJP are targeting me and my family.
• The Aggarwal community, which I belong to, is the most peace loving community. They fear the law.
• On his comment of him being a 'Bania' - I left the government in a profit of Rs 700 crores, even after providing Rs 300 crore subsidy. I said that I am a 'Bania', and I know business. This was not a call to the rest of the 'Bania' community to vote for me.
• People love the package of Arvind Kejriwal (driver) and Aam Aadma Party (vehicle).
• On ADR report claiming 23 AAP candidates having criminal charges - Many new candidates have been inducted in the party. Some of them are millionaires. But before giving each one of them a ticket, I checked their records personally.
• We referred all the cases of to Mr Admiral Ramdas, to find if the cases against the candidates in question have any strength. We have not compromised on the image of the candidates.
• On AVAM alleging charges of money laundering on Arvind Kejriwal - We have declared all the funds that we have accepted. We invite all the media and agencies to check all the companies that have donated money to AAP, and if these companies have violated any laws please take strict action against them.
• I invite enquiry into the transactions that are being alleged to be violating any law.
• If we make the government, I will order an enquiry in these four  transactions in question.
• On AAP being left-of-centre (ideology) - Our party does not adhere to any particular ideology, we have a solution oriented party.
• All parties claim to be business-oriented, but no one takes any action on that thought.
• On Arvind Kejriwal sitting on 'dharnas' again after becoming the Chief Ministerof Delhi - Let me first burst the myth that I am the only chief minister to have sat on a dharna. 20 chief ministers in India so far have sat on a dharna.
• On AAP government to provide 50% reduction in electricity bills and free water - In Delhi, I roam around the city 24/7. It's getting very difficult for the people to pay their bills. I think that there's a lot of corruption among the electricity providers. Till we form a government and finish an audit, we will give a temporary relief to the people. We believe that you don't tax people for oxygen, water is the same category.
• On Arvind Kejriwal's remark of being an anarchist - Mahatma Gandhi said that he is an anarchist, so did Bhagat Singh. The people who are corrupt are very corrupt are very uncomfortable with us. Media has misrepresented my words. We want to change the system, and for the corrupt, we are anarchists.
• On Arvind Kejriwal taking a u-turn on the issue of taking personal security - I have never asked for security. I have written numerous times to the government to take back the security. It invades my privacy.
• On AAP protesting for Arvind Kejriwal not being invited to Republic Day - I went for a walk to Lodhi Garden and I was asked by two reporters if I was invited for the Republic Day to which I said no. They asked me if I would like to go if invited, to which I replied yes. It was this incident that was blown out of proportion.
• On Somnath Bharti case - The whole party was sitting to expel Mr Bharti, but then we went through all the video tapes from that night. We don't think he did anything wrong. He was pleading the cops to take action, he did not enter any house.
• On Arvind Kejriwal's dressing sense, on being called the 'mufflerman' - I am not wearing a muffler right now, cause it's warm here. I am susceptible to cold and cough. I wear it because I need it.
• On AAP candidates switching loyalties in the coming elections - I can only say that if any of the candidates that we field in the elections are found guilty, I will go to any length to get them caught and punished.
• On Kumar Vishwas's comment that Kiran Bedi was a mole in the party - I am not getting into that discussion. I only care about the value system. Let's take a broader perspective, the time when we were working side-by-side was an anti-corruption movement. We did not screen people. People from all parties including the BJP and the Congress joined the movement.