"I missed Delhi people a lot," said Arvind Kejriwal
AAP convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday asserted that the BJP will not form the government on June 4 and said if the INDIA bloc comes to power, the direction and fate of the country will change. He held his first roadshow for Lok Sabha election campaign along with his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann in the South Delhi constituency, a day after his release from Tihar jail. "It is a historic moment. The history is taking a turn. If the INDIA bloc forms government, the direction and fate of the country will change.
"I am fighting against dictatorship with all my power. I need your support. The country never accepted any dictator and people removed them. I have come to seek your support to fight dictatorship," he said. He also asserted that the Modi government will not be formed on June 4.
"They are losing seats everywhere, be it Karnataka, Haryana. In Punjab, they will not win anything and even in Delhi, all the seven seats will be won by the INDIA bloc," he claimed. If the INDIA bloc comes to power, full statehood will be provided to Delhi, he said. Party leaders and workers gathered in large numbers while Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann mounted an open-roof vehicle waving and greeting people.
"I have come straight to you after being released from jail. I missed Delhi people a lot. I want to thank crores of people who prayed and sent blessings to me," he said. Recalling his days in jail, he said his wife Sunita, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and his ministers used to come to meet him. "I used to ask my ministers about the welfare of people while in jail. During my stay in jail, I used to think what is my fault that I was arrested. My fault was that I provided good schools and hospitals for people. I provided health facilities to people. They (BJP) stopped my insulin for 15 days in jail. "They want to shut everything to paralyse the Delhi government," he charged.
Remembering his former ministers Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, who are in Tihar jail, he claimed they changed the face of schools and hospitals. "Sisodia changed the face of schools in Delhi. He should be made the Union minister of education," he said.
AAP volunteers, holding party flags and raising slogans, marched behind the vehicle in the narrow streets of Mehrauli in South Delhi, in support of party candidate Sahi Ram Pehalwan.
Arvind Kejriwal, who is out on an interim bail granted by the Supreme Court till June 1, earlier in the day said he will campaign across the country to fight against "dictatorship". He will also take part in a roadshow in East Delhi constituency in support of AAP candidate Kuldeep Kumar.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)