Kejriwal calls exit polls fake; surrenders at Tihar Jail as interim bail ends

Arvind Kejriwal said he did not waste a single minute during his 21-day interim bail period and added that he campaigned for all parties to save the country

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday evening surrendered before the Tihar Jail authorities after the 21-day interim bail granted to him by the Supreme Court on May 10 expired. Before returning to jail in a cavalcade of vehicles, Kejriwal said the exit polls for the Lok Sabha elections, most of which predicted a clear majority for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), are fake and the BJP is not going to win the Lok Sabha elections on June 4.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal reaches Tihar Jail Gate No. 1 on Sunday. (HT Photo/Vipin Kumar)

Tihar jail officers confirmed that Kejriwal surrendered at jail no. 2 around 5.30 - 6pm on Sunday. He was admitted to his cell after health inspection and proper frisking and security measures, said an officer on condition of anonymity.

“I can give it in writing that the exit polls are absolutely fake. One exit poll gave 33 seats to the BJP in Rajasthan which has only 25 Lok Sabha seats. They must have been under pressure to give more seats to the BJP…The entire exit polls are fake. I believe that they are not going to form the government on June 4. The exit polls are part of a mind game used by them to discourage you. Do not get discouraged. The way we uprooted the British, we need to remove them (from power),” Kejriwal said while speaking to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders at the party headquarters at DDU Marg, where he arrived to meet and address party leaders.

Arvind Kejriwal left CM’s residence at 2.45pm along with his wife, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, party leader Gopal Rai and others to visit the Mahatma Gandhi memorial. Later, he visited Connaught Place Hanuman Mandir to offer prayers before arriving at the party office at 3.40pm to meet the party leaders who gathered from Punjab and Delhi. Before leaving the AAP office for Tihar Jail, Kejriwal addressed a gathering of party workers at the party headquarters.

“The real issue is…..why they (BJP) needed to get the exit polls conducted three days before the counting of votes. Many narratives are going on… they manipulated the machines (EVMs). But I want to tell every INDIA alliance party that they should instruct their counting agents to be totally alert. Even if their candidate is losing, they should stay there (counting center) till the end (of counting). On many occasions when their candidate is losing after multiple rounds, they leave…they should not leave (counting centre). At the end, when the random matching of the (VVPAT) slips from different booths on the votes polled in the EVMs is done the way ballot papers were counted earlier, if a single EVM votes and VVPAT slips do not match, then election is cancelled. If you are able to check this, then we can expose any EVM scam if they have done so. Everyone must stay till the end even if your candidate is losing,” Kejriwal said, making an appeal to the INDIA bloc leaders to ensure that their counting center agents are extra careful during the day of counting.

“The other narrative doing the rounds is that they inflated the numbers because their friends have invested heavily in the share market. On Monday, when the share market opens at a high they can sell their share and leave. The other theory doing the rounds is that the exit polls were made to put pressure on the bureaucracy in the next three days and get them do wrong things such as rigging the counting …,” Kejriwal said, reiterating that INDIA bloc leaders should train counting agents and ensure that they are alert.

“The other theory doing the rounds is that if the exit polls predicted lower number of seats (for the BJP), it might have triggered a rebellion against the duo (Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah) in the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) and BJP on June 1 itself,” said Kejriwal, bidding goodby to the party leaders gathered in the lawns of the party office.

The counting of votes polled in the Lok Sabha elections across the country will begin on June 4 from 8am onwards. AAP contested 22 Lok Sabha seats in alliance with the Congress, except 13 seats of Punjab, where the AAP and Congress contested separately. The seven Lok Sabha seats of Delhi went to polls on May 25.

Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21, and after over 50 days, he walked out of Tihar Jail on May 10 following the grant of interim bail to allow him to participate in the election campaign as the chief of the AAP. Kejriwal campaigned across Delhi, Punjab, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana.

“The 21 days are unforgettable for me. I did not waste a single minute during this period and campaigned to save the country. I campaigned for all parties. I visited Mumbai, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Jamshedpur, Punjab….whoever invited me for a campaign I went there. AAP is not important; the country comes first. I am going to jail again not because of corruption but because I have dared to raise a voice against dictatorship,” said Kejriwal.

“During the election campaign PM Narendra Modi accepted before the entire country that they do not have any evidence against me. They alleged ₹100 crore scam, we have always maintained that despite over 500 raids, not a single penny was recovered. When a TV channel asked about it, PM Modi said, ‘I accept that there is no evidence against Arvind Kejriwal and no recovery against him because Kejriwal is an experienced thief.’ I accept that I am an experienced thief, but you do not have any evidence against me, any recovery against me. You put the chief minister of a brute majority government in jail without evidence and recovery? This is a dictatorship,” Kejriwal said.

“A message has been sent to the entire country that if Arvind Kejriwal can be put in jail in a fake case, then anyone can be put in jail. I am fighting against this dictatorship. Bhagat Singh went to jail and accepted the gallows for the freedom of the country, we (AAP leaders) are going to jail to save the country. I don’t know what they will do with me in jail and when I will be back. But I do not care. I am ready to accept the gallows for the country,” said Kejriwal.

The AAP chief said that on June 4 Hanumanji will destroy the dictators. “I went to Hanuman Mandir to pray the God to save my country,” Kejriwal said.

Meanwhile, Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva along with several party workers protested outside Rajghat against CM Arvind Kejriwal visiting Mahatma Gandhi’s Samadhi before going to jail. The BJP leaders raised slogans against Kejriwal and showed black flags.

“It is shocking to see CM Arvind Kejriwal, a man arrested for liquor scam, shamelessly visiting the pious memorial of Mahatma Gandhi, who all his life worked for prohibition. By going to Rajghat and Hanuman Mandir before surrendering at Tihar Jail, Kejriwal tried to play his old victim card, but people of Delhi now well know that Gandhi ideology has no place in Kejriwal’s life. Kejriwal was out on bail for 20 days but did nothing to solve water and power crisis being faced by Delhiites,” Sachdeva said.

After Kejriwal surrendered, the Kejriwal team in a post on X stated: “The chief minister assured the people of Delhi that ‘all of you do not worry, I will not let any of your work stop. You do not worry about me, always be happy, if you are happy then my mind will be at peace.’”

(With input from Paras Singh)