Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sanjay Singh on Saturday said that there is a “world of difference” between West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her counterpart from Bihar Nitish Kumar.
In an interview with The Indian Express, after coming out on bail in the excise policy case from Tihar jail, said, “Nitish ji bowed down in front of BJP, and Mamata ji is fighting against it.”
The Rajya Sabha member was granted bail in the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case by the Supreme Court on Tuesday. A day later, he was released from Tihar jail after being held there for nearly six months.
He said that the Nitish Kumar’s exit from the Opposition bloc INDIA was a big setback for the alliance ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
“Nitish Kumar ji’s departure was completely unexpected. He was going from one place to another to bring Opposition parties together, and he suddenly joined NDA. Switching sides in this manner impacts your image. You may be able to get power and some benefits in the short term. But if you switch sides over and over again, history will not judge you kindly,” Singh said.
Speaking about the Lok Sabha elections, the AAP leader said that the party is contesting on 23 seats as part of the INDIA alliance.
“Our focus will be to ensure that all our workers make efforts with full dedication in areas where we are contesting. Where we are not contesting, our workers will help in the campaign of the INDIA bloc candidates.
There are 3-4 big issues right now. The first is the looming danger to democracy. Elected governments are being brought down and MLAs and ministers are being bought. Chief Ministers (of Opposition parties) are being jailed. This has to be explained to the people, and how there is an attempt to finish any Opposition,” he said.
Singh also recalled his days inside Tihar, which currently houses Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and senior AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain.
He said that the first 11 days for him “quite difficult”.
“I was inside a small cell and was not allowed to step outside. I was under police security. Subsequently, I spoke to the jail administration and demanded that I be given rights as a normal prisoner,” he told PTI.
Thereafter, he said, he was allowed to move out at fixed timings under police security. “They decided to allow me to go to music room, badminton court at fixed times. Even the issues related to food were also addressed,” he said.
The senior party leader said that he used the jail time to read books since he did not have a mobile phone.
“I read in those six months — the writings of Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Dr (Ram Manohar) Lohia, Bhagat Singh. In these six months I read more than what I had done in six years,” he said.