In the case of Arvind Kejriwal, Aam Aadmi Party is fighting both legal and political battles. The good thing is that Aam Aadmi Party has started getting support from INDIA Block in the Kejriwal case – and a protest has been decided to be held on 30th July.
As far as the legal battle is concerned, the Rouse Avenue Court has extended Arvind Kejriwal’s judicial custody in the Delhi liquor policy case till July 31 in the ED case. And similarly, judicial custody in the CBI case has been extended till August 8. Arvind Kejriwal was produced in the court through video conferencing. Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court has also allowed Arvind Kejriwal two extra meetings with his lawyers.
Recently, in the INDIA Block meeting, AAP MP Sanjay Singh raised the issue of Arvind Kejriwal’s ill health and appealed for support. Now, in a statement issued by the Aam Aadmi Party, it has been said that the INDIA Block will protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on July 30 over the health of jailed Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
According to sources, the issue of Arvind Kejriwal’s health was raised by the Aam Aadmi Party in the India Alliance meeting held recently. After this, the leaders of India Alliance announced a rally in support of Arvind Kejriwal. India Alliance is going to hold a rally in support of Kejriwal on July 30 at Jantar Mantar.
Aam Aadmi Party has claimed citing medical reports that Arvind Kejriwal’s sugar level in Tihar jail is falling repeatedly. Launching a direct attack on BJP, AAP leaders have alleged that a conspiracy is being hatched to kill Arvind Kejriwal in jail.
English newspaper The Hindu has quoted sources as saying that Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and senior Congress leaders are likely to join the protest at Jantar Mantar, but it is not confirmed whether Rahul Gandhi will join the protest or not.
Congress is the biggest party in the opposition camp, Rahul Gandhi is now not just the leader of Congress but also the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha. It is true that senior leaders of Congress along with other leaders of the alliance are joining the protest, but the lack of confirmation of Rahul Gandhi’s program raises doubts – and doubts also arise because similar abstinence was seen during the Lok Sabha elections as well.
Why is Rahul Gandhi avoiding Kejriwal?
If we leave the past things aside, even during the Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Gandhi was seen maintaining distance from Arvind Kejriwal, while at the same time he was seen holding press conferences, road shows and joint election rallies with Akhilesh Yadav.
As far as the relationship between Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi is concerned, it is still not considered cordial. After the 2017 electoral alliance, Rahul Gandhi, popularly known as ‘UP ke ladke’, and Akhilesh Yadav were reported to be on good terms despite being seen together in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Even now, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has to make efforts to bring the two together. Similar efforts were also heard during the discussion on seat sharing for the by-elections on 10 assembly seats in UP.
Now the question is that despite not being comfortable, Rahul Gandhi sits with Arvind Kejriwal in Lok Sabha even after the election campaign, then why is there hesitation in coming on public platforms with him.
And not only Rahul Gandhi, during the Lok Sabha elections it was also seen that Arvind Kejriwal held a press conference with Samajwadi Party leader the next day of the joint press conference of Akhilesh Yadav and Mallikarjun Kharge in Lucknow. Earlier it was told that all three leaders would hold a press conference together. However, on the same day Arvind Kejriwal was seen doing a road show in support of Congress candidates in Delhi.
There was also a possibility of Arvind Kejriwal and Rahul Gandhi campaigning together in Delhi, but that too did not happen. It was surprising because in Delhi, the Congress had an electoral alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party, just like it had an alliance with the Samajwadi Party in UP.
When Arvind Kejriwal was released from jail on interim bail for election campaigning, an attempt was made to know his opinion on Rahul Gandhi becoming the Prime Minister. At that time, Arvind Kejriwal spoke about himself but avoided the question related to Rahul Gandhi.
The question was whether they would accept Rahul Gandhi as the Prime Minister of the country? Arvind Kejriwal said, ‘No such discussion has taken place. This is a theoretical question… when we sit together, we will discuss it.’
After all, why can’t Rahul Gandhi accept Arvind Kejriwal like Akhilesh Yadav?
Rahul Gandhi did not take the name even in Parliament
Has Rahul Gandhi still not got over his hesitation about Arvind Kejriwal? And if this is indeed the case, then what could be the main reason for it?
Is Arvind Kejriwal ready to form an alliance with Congress only in Delhi?
Or will Aam Aadmi Party break its alliance with Congress after the Lok Sabha elections and before the Delhi Assembly elections?
Or is it the inability of Delhi Congress leaders to accept Arvind Kejriwal? From Sheila Dikshit to Arvinder Singh Lovely, every leader was against any kind of relationship with Arvind Kejriwal. Sheila Dikshit remained a wall in this matter all her life, Arvinder Singh Lovely even left the Congress on the issue of alliance with Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi. The current Delhi Pradesh Congress President Devendra Yadav is busy preparing to defeat Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi.
Recently, when Aam Aadmi Party leaders were giving statements in the media on Arvind Kejriwal’s health, Congress leader Sandeep Dixit had in a way rejected the claims. From the words of Sandeep Dixit, son of former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit, it seemed as if the Congress does not believe the claims being made by AAP leaders about Arvind Kejriwal’s health.
As the leader of the opposition in Parliament, Rahul Gandhi had certainly protested against the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal, but did not take his name. He merely addressed him as the Chief Minister – what is it that is forcing Rahul Gandhi to refrain from taking action against Arvind Kejriwal?