'Mamata, Pinarayi govts next...': Arvind Kejriwal says arrest part of broader BJP strategy to suppress dissent

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday shed light on why he is not resigning from his position as CM. He said that if he resigns, BJP will make a plot to topple Mamata Banerjee’s, Pinarayi Vijayan’s governments in West Bengal and Kerala where they have lost elections.

Taking a jibe at BJP, the Delhi CM, who is out on an interim bail, said the Chief Ministers of non-BJP states can be falsely implicated and the governments can be toppled. 

"If I resign today, they will topple Mamata Banerjee’s, Pinarayi Vijayan’s governments tomorrow. Wherever the BJP loses, the CM can be arrested and his government toppled. This battle has to be fought. If they put democracy in jail, democracy will be run from jail. We will fight this tooth and nail," Kejriwal said in an interview with The Indian Express.

He further revealed that he will continue to run the AAP government from jail and would ask the court to allow him basic facilities to run the government from jail.

He further accused BJP of targeting him because of the phenomenal rise of the Aam Aadmi Party. "Many people who meet the PM, some of them are our friends too, they tell us that the PM discusses AAP frequently. And he says that in the future, AAP will challenge them nationally and in many states," Kejriwal said while hinting that BJP is threatened by the good work AAP has done in Delhi.

Kejriwal, while speaking about the current state of Indian democracy, accused the BJP-led central government of steering the country towards dictatorship. He said that Kejriwal's arrest is part of a broader strategy to instill fear and suppress dissent.

"The country is going through a very difficult time," Kejriwal began. "Slowly, and now very quickly, the country is moving towards dictatorship. They first arrested Hemant Soren, and then me. By arresting me, they are sending a message to the people of the country: if they can arrest Kejriwal in a false case, they can arrest anyone. So, people should be feared and do as they say. These are signs of a dictatorship," he told in the interview.

He expressed concern that the central government is using arrests as a tool to intimidate opposition leaders and silence critics.