Out of jail, Arvind Kejriwal visits Hanuman temple, roadshows next

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who secured interim bail from the Supreme Court till June 1 in the liquor policy case, visited the Hanuman temple in Connaught Place along with his wife Sunita on Saturday.

Kejriwal, who walked out of Tihar Jail after 40 days in judicial custody on Friday night, was accompanied by his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh and Delhi minister Atishi.

On Friday, Kejriwal walked out of Tihar Jail after he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21 in a money laundering case linked to the now-scrapped Delhi liquor policy. He got the interim bail to campaign for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

Kejriwal is slated to address a press conference at the party office at 1 pm. After that, Kejriwal will hold two roadshows — one in South Delhi at 4 pm and another in East Delhi at 6 pm — to campaign for the AAP candidates.

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With Kejriwal out on bail for now, his presence is expected to boost AAP’s prospects in various states, including Punjab, and in Delhi, where the party has fielded its candidates. Lok Sabha elections in Delhi and Punjab will be held on May 25 and June 1, respectively.

AAP is in alliance with Congress in Delhi. Under the seat-sharing deal, AAP is contesting on four seats — South Delhi, New Delhi, West Delhi and East Delhi. On the other hand, the Congress has fielded its candidates in Chandni Chowk, Northwest Delhi and Northeast Delhi.

AAP has fielded Sahi Ram Pahalwan from the South Delhi Lok Sabha seat while Kuldeep Kumar is the party candidate from East Delhi. Somnath Bharti and Mahabal Mishra have been fielded from New Delhi and West Delhi, respectively.

In his first remarks after walking out of Tihar Jail, Kejriwal told thousands of supporters that he was back and sought people’s support in his fight to end “dictatorship” in the country.

He then reached his home in the Civil Lines area around 8:30 pm, where AAP workers welcomed him with dhol beats and slogans as flower blowers showered him with petals.

AAP leaders said the interim bail granted to Kejriwal will be a “gamechanger” for both AAP and the INDIA bloc’s campaign as the Lok Sabha polls enter the crucial phases in the coming weeks.

Opposition leaders also welcomed Kejriwal’s interim bail, saying the “fight to save democracy” will now be with more intensity. Hinting at a rise in the stature of Kejriwal as a top INDIA grouping leader, senior AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj said he will go all over the country to campaign for the Lok Sabha polls.

The BJP sought to downplay Kejriwal getting bail, saying it was interim and arguing that the investigating agencies wanted him for his role in the liquor policy case.

Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21 over alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and implementation of the Delhi government’s now-scrapped excise policy for 2021-22.

AAP has vehemently denied Kejriwal’s corruption allegations and claimed that it was a “political conspiracy” by the BJP as it “feared” him and did not want him to campaign for the Lok Sabha elections. The BJP has rejected AAP’s claims.