Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday sounded the poll bugle and asked AAP workers to go to every household in the national capital and tell people about the "conspiracies" of the BJP and ensure it doesn't get a single seat here in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Addressing a congregation of AAP workers (karyakarta sammelan), Mr. Kejriwal also told them to ask people in every household if they want him to continue to serve as the chief minister from jail in case he is arrested or should he resign.
"I have no lust for the chief minister's post. I am probably the world's first chief minister who resigned after 49 days without anyone asking me to do so," he said.
"I have held meetings with councillors and MLAs who said that I should continue being the chief minister if I am arrested. I am assigning you a task — go to every household, talk to people, ask them whether I should continue as the chief minister from the jail and tell them about BJP's conspiracies. Ensure that they do not get a single seat here. This will be campaigning for Lok Sabha polls," he said.
The AAP national convener said the BJP knows it cannot defeat the AAP in Delhi and that is why it is "hatching conspiracies" and putting AAP leaders in jail.
"Four of our leaders are in jail today. They are an inspiration. Don't be scared of going to jail. If Sanjay Singh and Manish Sisodia leave AAP today, they will be out of jail within 24 hours," he alleged.
He also said the BJP had plans to target leaders from different regional parties in the lead up to Lok Sabha polls to derail their election campaign.
"They have planned to put me in jail to ensure that AAP cannot campaign in Lok Sabha polls. They have planned something similar in Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand. But I challenge you — you put these leaders behind bars and you might just be cleaned up," he said.
The chief minister also said the AAP has grown from strength to strength within a short span of 10 years to become a national party.
"We have got the status of a national party. There are 1,350 registered parties and we left them behind and are only behind BJP and Congress. The way it is growing, one day the AAP will rule the country leaving behind BJP and Congress," he said.