Sisodia calls Arvind Kejriwal ‘saarthi’, says he will come out of jail soon

AAP leader urges party workers and people to fight against the "dictatorship" in the country

New Delhi: Senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia on Saturday called upon party workers and people to fight against the “dictatorship” in the country, a day after he was released from jail in the Delhi excise policy case.

Targeting the BJP, he also said these people are not more powerful than the Constitution. Every person has to fight against this “dictatorship” which is not just putting leaders in jail but also harassing citizens, Sisodia said while addressing Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers at its headquarters here.

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He claimed that while in jail, he was not worried about getting bail but was pained seeing businessmen being put in prison in “fake cases just because they did not donate money to the BJP”. The Supreme Court on Friday gave Sisodia bail in corruption and money laundering cases linked to the alleged excise policy “scam” and said his long incarceration of 17 months without trial had deprived him of the right to speedy justice.

On AAP supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is also in jail in the case, Sisodia said he is the symbol of honesty in the country. Conspiracies are being hatched to defame Kejriwal’s work, he said and added that if opposition leaders unite against the “dictatorship”, Kejriwal will come out of jail in 24 hours.

Sisodia told AAP workers that “we are just horses of a chariot but our real ‘saarthi’ (charioteer) is in jail, he will come out soon”. On his bail verdict, Sisodia said the Supreme Court used the power of the Constitution to “trample dictatorship” yesterday. He said he was hoping to get justice in seven-to-eight months but it took 17 months. But at the end truth triumphed, Sisodia said.

Seeking to target the BJP over the Vinesh Phogat issue, Sisodia, without taking the wrestler’s name, said she protested against its leader and people saw what happened at the Olympics. Phogat, who was disqualified from the Paris Olympics for being found 100 grams overweight ahead of her women’s 50kg final, was at the forefront of a lengthy protest alleging government inaction against former Wrestling Federation of India head Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who was accused of sexual harassment by women wrestlers.