Sisodia calls upon people to fight against 'dictatorship' in country

New Delhi: AAP leader Manish Sisodia on Saturday called upon party workers and people to fight against "tyranny" in the country and said if all opposition parties stand united against "dictatorship", Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will come out of prison within 24 hours. Addressing AAP workers at the party headquarters here a day after his release from Tihar jail on bail, he said party workers need to start working hard immediately to ensure the BJP loses the Assembly polls in Haryana, Delhi and elsewhere.

The former Delhi deputy chief minister urged the new allies of the BJP-led NDA as well as the opposition INDIA bloc parties to unite against "dictatorship", not just to save their leaders from being imprisoned but most importantly in the interest of the country.

The Aam Aadmi Party is part of the INDIA bloc. In the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls, the AAP and another INDIA bloc constituent Congress fought the elections together.

"If the whole opposition gives a call (against dictatorship) with full force, Arvind Kejriwal will come out of jail within 24 hours," Sisodia said. The Delhi chief minister is in Tihar Jail in connection with an excise policy scam case.

He is the "symbol of honesty" in the country, Sisodia said and termed the entire case against the chief minister a "web of conspiracies" spun by the ED and CBI to "tarnish" his image.

The former deputy chief minister claimed that while in jail, he was pained to see hundreds of businessmen being put in prison in "fake cases just because they did not donate money to the BJP".

Sisodia, a trusted lieutenant of AAP supremo Kejriwal, walked out of jail on Friday after spending 17 months behind bars in connection with the excise policy case.

On Saturday, he posted a picture of him having tea with his wife and wrote, "First tea of an independent morning... after 17 months".

The AAP leader visited the Hanuman Temple in Connaught Place here along with AAP leaders, including MP Sanjay Singh and Delhi ministers Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj, and offered prayers there.

Scores of party workers gathered on the temple premises to greet him and raised slogans. Later, Sisodia paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat.

Addressing party workers at the AAP headquarters, he said the BJP leaders are not more powerful than the Constitution. Every person has to fight this "dictatorship" that is putting leaders in jail and also harassing citizens, Sisodia said.

Asserting that he could come out of jail with the blessings of Lord Hanuman and because of the Constitution, Sisodia expressed hope that Kejriwal too will be out of prison soon.

"Our charioteer is still in jail. He has immense blessings of Lord Hanuman and he will be out very soon," Sisodia said and described the AAP as a chariot while he and other party leaders were horses.

Terming Kejriwal a "nemesis of corruption", Sisodia raised the slogan "Bhrashtachar Ka Ek Hi Kaal, Kejriwal".

In an apparent reference to wrestler Vinesh Phogat, he said, "Our daughter from a village raised the banner of India in the world of sports. When she said that a leader of your party (BJP) harassed us, he (accused) was not even arrested."

"We saw what happened to that daughter under the extreme form of this tyranny. Everybody knows what was done and who did it. If she shed tears, something is certainly amiss," Sisodia charged.

Phogat was disqualified from the Paris Olympics before her gold medal bout for being found 100 grams overweight. She was at the forefront of a lengthy protest last year, alleging government inaction against former Wrestling Federation of India head Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who was accused of sexually harassing women wrestlers.

About his bail, Sisodia said the Supreme Court used the power of the Constitution to "trample dictatorship". He appreciated the team of lawyers, including senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who is also a Congress leader, for their hard work in securing his release from jail.

The senior AAP leader said that he hoped to get justice in seven to eight months, but it took 17 months. But in the end, truth triumphed, Sisodia said.

"This proved that there can delay but not darkness in God's house," he said and added that while in jail he derived strength from the pain and tears of his party workers and supporters.

Sisodia said that in jail he read around 300 books, including the Bhagavad Gita and those on the education systems around the world.

"I got my answers from those and realised that India can become a developed country by 2047 if we ensure good quality government schools, healthcare and employment. If any leader says otherwise then he is just resorting to gimmicks and he can not be a visionary," he stressed.

The senior AAP leader lauded the AAP leaders and volunteers for remaining united and accused the BJP of resorting to "threats" and imprisonment to intimidate opposition leaders.

"We are unbreakable because we are formed of the soil on which Bhagat Singh's sweat fell, Mahatma Gandhi was shot," he said and appealed to party volunteers to fight against "dictatorship".

AAP's Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, ministers Gopal Rai, Atishi, Saurabh Bharadwaj and other leaders along with scores of party workers were present during Sisodia's visit to the party headquarters after getting out of jail.