New Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal, addressing his first press conference since leaving jail, said that the Bharatiya Janata Party will not only imprison Opposition leaders but also leaders from their own party. Mr Kejriwal claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has started a "one nation, one leader" mission and he will soon end the political career of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath too.
"Politics of Advani, Murli Joshi, Shivraj Chauhan, Vasundhara Raje, Khattar, Raman Singh has been finished, Yogi Adityanath is next. If he (PM Modi) wins, he will change UP Chief Minister within two months," Mr Kejriwal said.
"Our country is very old, whenever a dictator tried to take over, the people uprooted him. Today again a dictator wants to end democracy. I have come to beg from 140 crore people," he added.
In his speech, he singled out PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah as engineers behind a power takeover within the BJP, referring to how the BJP changes chief ministers in many states before assembly elections to "clip their wings".
He also warned that all the opposition leaders including Chief Ministers Mamata Banerjee, and MK Stalin would be sent to jail in case the BJP-led NDA comes to power after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
"They will send opposition leaders to jail and will finish them (Nipta denge) ...Our ministers, Hemant Soren (former Jharkhand CM), ministers of Mamata Banerjee's party (Trinamool Congress) are in jail...If they (BJP) win again, then Mamata Banerjee, MK Stalin, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Uddhav Thackeray (UBT Chief) and other opposition leaders will all be in jail." Mr Kejriwal said.
On Friday, the Supreme Court granted the Delhi Chief Minister interim bail to campaign for the Lok Sabha elections. Questioning the arrest just before the elections, the court directed the Enforcement Directorate to investigate Mr Kejriwal after voting ends.
"For one-and-a-half years he was there... he could have been arrested before or after (the election) also. Whatever it is, 21 days here or there should not make any difference," the court said.
Mr Kejriwal's release has been cheered by the opposition INDIA alliance, of which the Aam Aadmi Party is a key member.