Arvind Kejriwal will remain the Chief Minister of Delhi, but his wife, Sunita Kejriwal, is likely to assume a “significant role” in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the coming days, party sources told news agency PTI on Sunday.
Sunita Kejriwal has been at the forefront of the Opposition’s protest against the arrest of her husband, Arvind Kejriwal. The Delhi chief minister was arrested on March 21 in connection with a money laundering case linked to the Delhi excise policy.
On March 31, Sunita attended the INDIA bloc’s “Loktantra Bachao” rally at the Ramlila ground, “making her political debut”, reported PTI.
At the grand rally, she called Arvind Kejriwal a “lion” who “lives in the hearts of millions of people”. She even read out a message penned by Arvind Kejriwal from the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) custody.
She also slammed the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government for keeping Arvind Kejriwal in jail despite the court “not calling him guilty”.
“The ED’s investigation has concluded and the court hasn’t called him guilty so why have they kept him in jail? Their aim is only to keep him in jail during the Lok Sabha elections,” Sunita Kejriwal said.
“The people of the country will answer to this dictatorship,” she said on Monday after a city court sent the Delhi CM to judicial custody till April 15.
Sunita Kajriwal — ‘a Rabri Devi in the making’
Union Minister and BJP leader Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday said that a “Rabri Devi is in the making” in an apparent reference to Sunita Kejriwal.
“I have already said three-four times in the past seven-10 days that ‘Rabri Devi’ will come forward now. I mean to say that Sunita Kejriwal will come forward now…,” Puri said.
Union Minister and BJP leader Anurag Thakur had also compared Sunita Kejriwal to Rabri Devi earlier. Speaking to news agency ANI, Thakur had said that like Rabri, Sunita is making announcements for his arrested husband, and will “gradually” catch hold of the chief minister’s chair.
Rabri Devi is former Bihar chief minister and wife of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav. Speaking to PTI, senior advocate Ajit Sinha said when Lalu Yadav was sent to jail, he was initially of the view that the government could be run from the jail. However, later he made his spouse Rabri Devi his successor.
Arvind Kejriwal in jail
Kejriwal is the fourth top AAP leader who has been lodged in the Tihar Jail in connection with the excise policy case. Earlier, former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, ex-health minister Satyendar Jain and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh were sent to jail for their alleged involvement in the “scam”.
Arvind Kejriwal was brought to Tihar Jail in Delhi at 4 pm. He has been lodged in Jail Number 2, a prison official said, adding that he will be kept under watch for 24 hours.
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Published: 01 Apr 2024, 10:36 PM IST