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New Delhi, April 16
“My name is Arvind Kejriwal and I am not a terrorist” is the Delhi chief minister's message for the people of the country from Tihar jail, AAP leader Sanjay Singh said on Tuesday.
He claimed the BJP was trying to demoralise and break Kejriwal out of “malice and vendetta” but he will emerge stronger.
Addressing a press conference here, Singh alleged that a “notorious criminal” lodged in Tihar jail was allowed to meet his lawyer and wife in the barrack, while Kejriwal had to meet Punjab Chief Minster Bhagwant Mann across a glass screen.
Saddened by the treatment meted out to him, Kejriwal has sent a message to the people of the country: “My name is Arvind Kejriwal and I am not a terrorist”, Singh said.
The Delhi chief minister's assertion borrows from the 2010 Shahrukh Khan-starrer 'My Name is Khan' in which the actor famously says "My Name is Khan and I am not a terrorist" in a scene of the movie.
Singh said, "Kejriwal was being treated like a terrorist in jail. They are (BJP) so filled with malice and hatred that they have made Kejriwal speak to his family, and his wife through a glass screen. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who has Z+ category security, was made to meet the three-time elected chief minister of Delhi with a glass screen separating them," he said.
Treating Kejriwal like "terrorists" is a matter of pain for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the BJP should be ashamed for doing so, he charged.
The Rajya Sabha MP of the AAP, who recently got bail after spending six months in jail in a money laundering case, alleged, "In jail number 2 of Tihar, a notorious criminal meets his lawyer and wife inside the barrack. Meetings of other inmates are also held in the office of the jail." He did not take any names though.
Director General (prisons) Sanjay Baniwal on Monday said no distinction is made in the treatment meted out to the inmates and it is ensured they get the same basic rights.
Mann met Kejriwal in jail on Monday and alleged that the Delhi chief minister was not getting the amenities even a hardcore criminal is allowed in Tihar.
Responding to this, Baniwal said, "There is no distinction between a hardcore or a normal criminal. In the jail manual, there is no distinction between the inmates. Every inmate has basic rights and it is my duty to ensure that. These are being ensured to everyone."
Nobody is accorded special treatment and there is no such provision, he said.
Sanjay Singh alleged that the BJP took Rs 60 crore from an accused in the alleged liquor scam through the electoral bond but the prime minister defended the now-scrapped poll bonds scheme in an interview.
He alleged that the BJP was the "most corrupt party of Independent India" and demanded the ED and CBI to probe the electoral bonds "scam".
The BJP hit back at Kejriwal, saying the people are aware that Delhi's chief minister is in jail for corruption and money laundering charges.
"Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and AAP MP Sanjay Singh should understand they cannot mislead Delhiites through rhetoric. Kejriwal has lost the sympathy of the people," said Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva.
Kejriwal is in judicial custody till April 23 in a money laundering case linked to the now-scrapped excise policy of his government. He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on March 21.
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