BJP jailed me to halt Delhi’s progress: Kejriwal in Assembly
While Kejriwal’s speech was an attack on BJP, it was also an acknowledgment that the Capital was reeling from a raft of administrative problems
Former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday addressed the assembly for the first time since stepping down from his position as the city’s top elected official and said that development work which was stalled during his six months behind bars will be resumed “despite the Bharatiya Janata’s Party’s (BJP) efforts to halt the Capital’s progress”.
In his 18-minute speech, Kejriwal assailed the BJP for “trying to dismantle” the AAP, even as he underscored that the 2025 assembly elections would vindicate the party and its top leaders.
“The BJP wanted to prove that imprisoning me would bring projects across the city to standstill. But I want to assure the people of Delhi that your son, your brother is back and all the pending work will start again,” Kejriwal said.
“I will not let the people of Delhi suffer,” he said.
While Kejriwal’s speech was a scathing attack on the BJP, it was also an acknowledgment that the Capital was reeling from a raft of administrative problems -- bad roads, overflowing sewers, lack of free tests and medicines in government hospitals and the absence of marshals on city buses -- over the last several months.
“People are inconvenienced by broken roads, which also cause pollution. Sewers are overflowing. They (the BJP) have stopped the bus marshall scheme. Medicines and tests have been stopped,” he said, underscoring a range of essential services and key government projects caught in the crosshairs in the tussle between the elected Delhi government, the Centre and its nominated lieutenant governor.
{{/usCountry}}“People are inconvenienced by broken roads, which also cause pollution. Sewers are overflowing. They (the BJP) have stopped the bus marshall scheme. Medicines and tests have been stopped,” he said, underscoring a range of essential services and key government projects caught in the crosshairs in the tussle between the elected Delhi government, the Centre and its nominated lieutenant governor.
{{/usCountry}}To be sure, Kejriwal attributed these problems to his and his AAP colleagues’ incarcerations.
{{/usCountry}}To be sure, Kejriwal attributed these problems to his and his AAP colleagues’ incarcerations.
{{/usCountry}}Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said that Arvind Kejriwal has stalled the development of Delhi during the nearly 10 years of his rule. “It is an odd irony that during his nine-and-a-half-year tenure, Kejriwal stalled the development of Delhi, left the roads in a deplorable state and never conducted any inspections and today, to save face, he is staging an inspection drama with chief minister Atishi. Under Kejriwal’s rule, the condition of Delhi’s roads today resembles that of Patna’s roads during Lalu Yadav’s regime from 1990 to 1997,” said Sachdeva in a statement.
{{/usCountry}}Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said that Arvind Kejriwal has stalled the development of Delhi during the nearly 10 years of his rule. “It is an odd irony that during his nine-and-a-half-year tenure, Kejriwal stalled the development of Delhi, left the roads in a deplorable state and never conducted any inspections and today, to save face, he is staging an inspection drama with chief minister Atishi. Under Kejriwal’s rule, the condition of Delhi’s roads today resembles that of Patna’s roads during Lalu Yadav’s regime from 1990 to 1997,” said Sachdeva in a statement.
{{/usCountry}}On the first of the two-day assembly session, Kejriwal spoke from an unusual spot in the Delhi assembly — he sat on seat number 41 and not number 1, which is reserved for the chief minister, a position he stepped down from on September 17.
Indeed, this was his first-ever address as a legislator in the assembly.
Former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia sat to his left, but both sat a distance away from the chairs earmarked for the most senior Delhi government leaders -- berths that were occupied by chief minister Atishi, who was sworn in on Sunday, and cabinet ministers Saurabh Bhardwaj, Kailash Gahlot, Gopal Rai, Imran Hussain and Mukesh Ahlawat, the newest entrant in the city’s council of ministers.
The ongoing session is likely to be the last sitting before the winter session of the city’s seventh assembly, where the AAP holds a brute majority with 59 of 70 seats – two AAP MLAs have been disqualified and one (Rajendra Pal Gautam) resigned as MLA. The BJP has seven and three are vacant.
Atishi attended the assembly session where she introduced the Delhi Goods and Services Tax (third Amendment) Bill, 2024 in the House. She did not address the House.
Kejriwal said he is not afraid of vacating positions of power if required, “even if people don’t ask” for his resignation.
“In 2006, I stepped down when I was joint commissioner in the income tax department to work in Delhi’s slums... Then, in 2013, I stepped down as chief minister after 49 days as a matter of principle…,” he said.
The upcoming assembly elections, slated to be held in February, will be a referendum, where people decide if the people jailed are thieves, or if the people who jailed them are thieves, Kejriwal said.
“History will remember Manish Sisodia for building schools and Satyendar Jain for building hospitals. But it will also remember the BJP for stopping their work and putting them in jail,” he said.
Delhi’s ruling party has, for the best part of two years, been in crisis, with its top leaders and several key aides jailed in connection with alleged corruption cases.
Former health minister Jain was jailed in May 2022, Sisodia in February 2023, Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh in October 2023, and then Kejriwal in March 2024.
Further, the party’s communications in-charge Vijay Nair was held for his alleged role in the Delhi excise policy in November 2022 and Kejriwal’s aide Bibhav Kumar was arrested in an alleged assault case filed by AAP parliamentarian Swati Maliwal in May 2024.
These arrests were part of a grand attempt to snap the party, but the AAP prevailed despite these designs, Kejriwal said.
“The BJP slapped a fake case against me. They put Manish (Sisodia), Satyendar Jain, me, Sanjay Singh, Bibhav (Kumar), Vijay Nair in jail. Despite imprisoning the party’s five biggest leaders, the AAP did not break,” he said.
“I guarantee the BJP will break if even two of its leaders are put behind bars,” he added.
Leader of opposition Vijender Gupta said: “It appears that after losing his position as chief minister, Mr Kejriwal is suffering from significant mental trauma. The fact that his corruption has been exposed seems to have deeply affected him. His irresponsible statements are clearly a result of his growing frustration.”
“The former CM used to call himself ‘Dilli ka Maalik’ (Owner of Delhi). However, the people of Delhi have shown Kejriwal and his party during the recent Lok Sabha elections that it is the citizens who are in charge, not the corrupt leaders of AAP. These recent outbursts in the Assembly reflect poorly on Kejriwal and his ability to accept the will of the people. Arvind Kejriwal should have a more responsible approach to political discourse because he has held high office. I urge Kejriwal to reflect on his actions and statements. The people of Delhi deserve better than baseless accusations and frustrated outbursts,” said Gupta.
