New Delhi: On hearing the news of Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal release from jail, his wife Sunita Kejriwal distributed sweets outside the house. He will come out of Tihar Jail on Friday late evening.
However, the court has validated his arrest and imposed similar bail conditions as the ED case. Though he is still the chief minister, it will not be easy for him to run the government.
According to bail conditions, Kejriwal will not be able to sign any government file and the urgent ones can be signed only with prior consent of the Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Delhi. He will also not be able to sit at the chief minister’s office or Delhi Secretariat and has been restrained from making any comment on this case. Neither can he talk to any witness.
He can’t call for any official file from the Excise Department under the Delhi Government. Apart from this, whenever he is summoned, he will have to appear in court. In such a situation, the grant of bail will boost the morale of his party workers and supporters.
Kejriwal will be actively participating in the electioneering for the upcoming assembly elections in Haryana where his party has fielded candidates for all 90 seats. The nomination process is over. From Friday itself, all the candidates will kick off campaigning.
Kejriwal will now play a big role in the election preparations and strategy for AAP. In the list of star campaigners submitted to the Election Commission two days ago, Kejriwal’s name featured at the top.
Last month, Manish Sisodia, who was in also Tihar jail for about one-and-a-half years, was granted bail in the Delhi liquor scam case. Now Kejriwal’s release has brought much relief to the party with the broom symbol.
Amid mounting crises, many leaders and MLAs have deserted AAP in the last six months with cabinet ministers in Kejriwal’s government, Rajkumar Anand and Rajendra Pal Gautam, the prominent ones who switched to other party. Another blow was the desertion of MLA Kartar Singh Tanwar and four municipal councillors. Speculations of disintegration creeping into the organisation were rife but Kejriwal’s comeback may put things under control as the party leaders are expecting.
Before getting bail, it was speculated that Kejriwal would take quick decisions on delivering the government schemes on time as elections to the Delhi assembly are due in four months. But now, this seems not feasible.
The latest budget had announced a scheme of Rs 1,000 per month for women which has not been implemented yet.
As soon as Kejriwal was granted bail, BJP said in the conditions on which he has got bail, he should immediately resign from the post of Chief Minister. BJP’s state president Virendra Sachdeva and the Leader of Opposition in the assembly Vijender Gupta said Kejriwal is the accused and he has only got bail. He has not been released. The way Kejriwal was calling this case and his arrest illegal, the court has made a strong comment on it and has declared the arrest as valid. In such a situation, he has no right to remain in his post.
For the last few days, there has been a discussion on the imposition of President’s rule in Delhi. In fact, on August 30, LoP met the President along with his fellow MLAs and cited a constitutional crisis in Delhi. The BJP MLAs had also submitted a six-page memorandum to the President demanding imposition of President’s rule which has been sent to the Union Home Ministry for consideration. Now, all eyes are on what will happen after Kejriwal walks out of Tihar.
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