New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal claimed Sunday that the Lok Sabha election exit polls predicting a major victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were designed to prevent Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and BJP functionaries from turning against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, ahead of the verdict on 4 June.
He said that it was being suggested that the EVMs were tampered with, and therefore, the parties of the INDIA bloc needed to be particularly alert on getting the numbers matched with VVPAT slips. “There is no point crying hoarse later. It has to be done on counting day, so that EVM tampering can be prevented or exposed,” Kejriwal added.
Kejriwal made the remarks, while addressing Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders and workers at the party headquarters, before returning to Tihar Jail Sunday as the 21-day interim bail granted to him by the Supreme Court in the Delhi excise policy case ended.
In his speech, Kejriwal dismissed the exit polls as “fake”, appealing to the people to not get demoralised by them. The need of the hour, he said, was for the INDIA bloc parties to direct their polling agents to not leave counting centres midway on 4 June without tallying EVM and VVPAT numbers.
“Take it from me, all exit polls are fake. One pollster gave 33 seats to the BJP in Rajasthan, where there are 25 Lok Sabha constituencies. The real question is why was there a need to release fake exit polls three days before counting?” said the AAP national convener.
“One theory is that their people have invested in the share market so they want the stocks to rally tomorrow for profit. Another theory is that it has been done to pressure officers and get them to misuse official machinery,” he added.
Following a meeting of the INDIA bloc leaders Saturday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had asserted that the Opposition was set to win over 295 seats.
Kejriwal claimed that another theory doing the rounds was that if the exit polls had shown fewer seats for the BJP, “people in the RSS and BJP would have rebelled against these two (PM Modi and Home Minister Shah) yesterday itself. They wouldn’t have waited till 4 June. These are essentially mind games to demoralise the Opposition.”
On Sunday, Kejriwal also visited Rajghat and a Hanuman Temple in Delhi’s Connaught Place with his family members and party leaders before returning to jail. The AAP released a video of him seeking the blessings of his parents, while leaving his residence.
Addressing party workers, Kejriwal also thanked the apex court for allowing him to campaign. He reiterated that he had been jailed because he had displayed the temerity to raise his voice against the “dictatorship in the country”. Although the court had asked him to desist from commenting on the case against him, Kejriwal, referring to a TV interview of the PM, claimed that Modi had “admitted that there is no evidence against me”.
“Modi said there is no evidence against me because I am an experienced thief. For arguments’ sake, let’s agree that I am an experienced thief. But where is the evidence or recovery (of money allegedly laundered)? This precisely is the dictatorship, which I am fighting against,” the AAP leader said.
“I do not know when I will be back or what they will do to me in jail, but I am not worried. Bhagat Singh had said that when power becomes despotic, going to jail becomes our responsibility,” he added, reminding the party workers that 4 June is Tuesday, the day when “Bajrangbali” is worshipped.
Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on 21 March in connection with the formulation and implementation of an excise policy governing sale of liquor in Delhi. He had obtained interim bail from the Supreme Court on 10 May to campaign for the AAP.
Kejriwal used this window to campaign aggressively, not just in Delhi and Punjab — where AAP is in power — but also other states, such as Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. His very first speech after walking out of jail had made a splash, as he had claimed that Prime Minister Modi was gradually sidelining all prominent BJP leaders, including Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, to make way for the home minister’s elevation as the PM.
The Delhi CM had also insisted that Modi would retire after turning 75 next year under the rule that was established to “phase out” many veteran BJP leaders in the past. The party had to field its top leaders, including Shah, to reject Kejriwal’s claims.
But AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal’s allegation that she was assaulted by Kejriwal’s aide Bibhav Kumar inside the CM’s residence threatened to derail AAP’s campaign. The party failed to pacify Maliwal and launched an offensive against her, accusing her of playing to the BJP’s script. Kumar was eventually arrested.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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