Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is busy campaigning in the national capital as well as in other parts of the country. He claimed that India Alliance will get more than three hundred seats in this election. He says that the present government wants to destroy the Constitution and democracy. Kejriwal says that face is not important in the opposition, all parties will decide this after the elections. He claimed that Aam Aadmi Party’s strike rate will be the highest in the Lok Sabha elections.
Election campaign on seven seats of Delhi is in the final stage. What are the prospects for Aam Aadmi Party?
See, the way I was arrested on March 21, just five days after the announcement of elections, by implicating me in a false case, the purpose of this was to stop Mohalla Clinics and other services of Delhi including free electricity. There is anger among the public regarding this. I think this will translate into votes. India alliance will win all seven seats in Delhi.
Even after winning three assembly elections in Delhi, AAP has not yet got success in the Lok Sabha elections. What is the winning equation this time?
The way they have arrested me will have adverse consequences. When we contested the Lok Sabha elections the first two times, we were only a Delhi party. People did not consider us worthy of major elections, hence did not vote for us. Now we ourselves are a national party. Also part of India alliance. Gradually the picture is becoming clear that India coalition government is being formed. We are part of the effort to form the government at the Centre, hence we will be a contender in the future government at the Centre. This is the reason why people will vote for us this time.
You went to jail after the election was announced. Did this have any impact on the party’s campaign?
My going to jail has had a very effective effect. Our party has become stronger. Any party or institution becomes stronger when it faces trouble or has to struggle. The party has united. They thought that the party would disintegrate, but the opposite happened. The party came together like a family. Our leadership who was outside, the way he cherished the party, is praiseworthy. We do not see such support from the public even in the assembly elections, hence this arrest has backfired on them.
If India coalition government is formed, who will be the face?
He will decide. At this time it is most important to save the country. The way people are being arrested, it seems that they will put the entire opposition in jail. All your leaders were put in jail. I was also put in jail. On the other hand, Hemant Soren was sent to jail. Broke NCP and Shiv Sena. Mamta Banerjee’s minister arrested. Case filed against Tejashwi Yadav. They are not going to leave anyone. If he wins by putting all the opposition in jail, then he will rule after that. Our priority is to save the country from this dictatorship. This is an opportunity to save the country. We will decide later who will be the face and who will not.
You are repeatedly alleging that if BJP comes to power, it will change the Constitution. Why do you feel this way?
They are saying that 400 seats are needed. When he was asked why 400 seats were needed, he was told that Modi ji wants to do big work. What big work do you want to do? Then it came to light that they wanted to end reservation by changing the Constitution.
AAP was formed against corruption. Now the party itself has been made an accused in the excise case?
Let me give an example of this. More than 250 cases have been filed against our party leaders. Till now the decision has been taken in 130 cases. No one was punished. Now allegations of liquor scam worth Rs 100 crore are being made. Raids were also conducted. He himself says that he has conducted 500 raids, but till date not a single rupee has been found. Where did Rs 100 crore go? It must have been spent somewhere. These people did not get anything. The entire case is fake.
You came to power by defeating Congress in Delhi and Punjab. Now what will be the impact on the party cadre if contesting elections with Congress?
Everyone is understanding that this fight is not about winning elections, partying or whether any leader is big or small. The entire effort is to save the country. History will not forgive us if we do not come together.
Why the decision of not resigning from the post of Chief Minister even after going to jail? Was this part of a strategy?
This is part of my struggle. Kejriwal is not greedy for post. When our party formed the government in Delhi for the first time, I resigned from the post of Chief Minister after 49 days. Resigned from the post of IRS and worked in the slums of Delhi. I did not resign because that was their intention. They cannot defeat us in Delhi, hence a conspiracy was hatched to arrest Kejriwal. Then he will have to resign and the government will be brought down, so I will not resign at all. If I resign, tomorrow we will arrest the Chief Minister of any elected government and force his resignation. We will topple all the opposition governments one by one. They have imprisoned democracy. We will demonstrate democracy by running it from jail.
What will be the impact of the resignation of one of your ministers and the disappearance of some MPs in the midst of elections?
There will be no effect. The public has nothing to do with this. I am going among the public. They say that it is a very good government. Everyone says that Modi government has gone after Kejriwal.
You are going to other states of the country, how many seats will you give to India Alliance?
I went to Maharashtra, Lucknow, Jamshedpur, Kurukshetra and Punjab. What I understand after talking to people is that India Alliance will cross 300 seats on its own.
You are campaigning for Congress candidates, but your people are not visible on the Congress platform?
There is a very good coordination between us. It was decided in between that we would campaign together with Rahul Gandhi. There were some differences in the beginning, but now everything is fine.
What is your opinion on the allegations against the Election Commission?
Everyone is worried about this. I was watching the interview of the former Election Commissioner, he asked whether it had ever happened before that it took so much time to get the voting percentage. This time the voting percentage which came after five-six days has increased by 5 to 6 percent. This is very strange in the age of technology. I will appeal to the Election Commission that everything should be transparent. Remove the doubts that are in the minds of people. The number of voters in each parliamentary constituency and how many votes were cast should be posted on the website within 24 hours.
You are saying that the CM of UP will be changed after the elections. Where did this thing come from?
You see he removed Vasundhara Raje. Shivraj Singh Chauhan removed. Raman Singh removed. Khattar Saheb was also removed. Now only Yogi ji is left in the way of making Amit Shah the next Prime Minister. When I raised this issue, not a single BJP leader denied it or said that it would not be removed. It is clear that there is a plan to remove Yogi ji.
Your allegation is that BJP wants to destroy Aam Aadmi Party. What is the reason for this?
This is because many people go to meet the Prime Minister. Some of them are also known to us. He mentions Aam Aadmi Party to everyone. He believes that AAP is a threat to BJP in future. They want to end it now, so that the threat can be eliminated in future, hence they have launched Operation Jhadu. They are sending our leaders to jail. Will seize the party’s account. Will close the party office. I want to tell them that whether Kejriwal is there or not, the party will not end. You are not a party, you are an idea.
Is there water shortage in Delhi?
This is also their conspiracy. Can go to any extent to win elections. There are three days left for voting in Delhi. They deliberately want to create water shortage so that the public gets angry with us.
What is the situation wherever you are contesting elections?
Doing very well. Winning seats in Gujarat. Doing well in Kurukshetra also. This time the best strike rate will be from Aam Aadmi Party.
