Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal surrendered at Tihar Jail on Sunday following the expiration of his interim bail granted by the Supreme Court in connection with an excise policy-linked money laundering case. The bail, which ended on June 1, had allowed him to campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. “I am going back to jail not because I was involved in corruption but because I raised my voice against dictatorship,” Kejriwal said while addressing AAP leaders and workers at the party office. “I was given a 21-day relief by the Supreme Court. These 21 days were unforgettable. I did not waste even a minute. I campaigned for saving the country. The AAP is not important, it is secondary. The country comes first.”
Before his surrender, Kejriwal paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Raj Ghat and offered prayers at the Hanuman temple in Connaught Place. Kejriwal also dismissed exit polls predicting a third term for the BJP-led NDA as “fake”.
Exit polls on Saturday indicated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would retain power for a third consecutive term, with the NDA expected to secure a significant majority. “They are not forming a government on June 4. These exit polls are mind games to drive you into depression,” he told AAP workers and leaders.
Before Kejriwal arrived at the Tihar jail, traffic movement was restricted in the areas around the prison and security arrangements heightened with deployment of police personnel.
Kejriwal’s wife Sunita Kejriwal was seen accompanying him. AAP leaders, including Atishi, Kailash Gahlot and Saurabh Bharadwaj, Rajya Sabha MPs Sanjay Singh and Sandeep Pathak, and party leaders Durgesh Pathak, Rakhi Birla and Reena Gupta were also present.
(With inputs from PTI)