‘How will you arrest thoughts?’: Bhagwant Mann on Arvind Kejriwal

Punjab chief minister and AAP leader Bhagwant Mann said on Saturday that Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal is not a person but a thought. In a jibe at the Opposition, Mann said that a person can be taken into custody, not a thought.

He claimed that after the completion of the third phase of the Lok Sabha election 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is aware that the NDA won't achieve its target of winning 400 seats. Exuding confidence about AAP's performance in the election on May 25 in Delhi, he said: There is a slogan coming from the women wing- '25 May, BJP gayi'.

"Whether I went to Assam, Gujarat or Punjab, I just said that Arvind Kejriwal is not a person, Arvind Kejriwal is a thought, you will arrest the person, how to arrest the thought?...In the first 3 rounds (of LS polls), PM Modi got to know that this time it is not going to be '400 paar'...There is a slogan coming from the women wing- '25 May, BJP gayi'...," said Mann as quoted by news agency ANI.

ALSO READ| Day after bail, Arvind Kejriwal claims ‘dictator’ Modi wants to crush AAP

Addressing the media on Saturday, Arvind Kejriwal revealed why he didn't resign as the Delhi chief minister. Kejriwal said that a conspiracy was hatched to send him to jail, believing that the Delhi government would fall but he didn't fall into the trap.

"When I was in jail, some people raised this issue that why doesn't Arvind Kejriwal resign from the post of Delhi CM? I have not come to become CM or PM…In the last 75 years, elections have been held in so many states, the AAP government was formed in Delhi with the most historic majority, no other political party could win in any state with such a huge margin. They knew they could never defeat AAP, so a conspiracy was hatched to send Kejriwal to jail and the government would fall but we did not fall into their trap. Hemant Soren also should not have resigned… I am fighting against this dictatorship from jail...," said Kejriwal.

On Saturday, Bhagwant Mann accompanied Kejriwal to offer prayers at the Hanuman Mandir in Delhi's Connaught Place. Kejriwal's wife Sunita Kejriwal was also present during the event. In view of the elections in Delhi, Kejriwal will hold road shows in South Delhi's Mehrauli and East Delhi's Krishna Nagar on Saturday.

Kejriwal was released from Tihar jail on Friday after the Supreme Court granted him interim bail in the money laundering case connected to the alleged excise policy scam. The top court has allowed the AAP national convenor to campaign for his party in the Lok Sabha election 2024. However, the top court has asked Kejriwal to surrender on June 2. Notably, Voting will be held in Delhi in the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha election 2024 on May 25.