Arvind Kejriwal raises National Herald case to allege BJP-Congress nexus: 'No one from Gandhi family has gone to jail'

AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal with Congress MP Rahul Gandhi. (File: ANI)

Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal has alleged a collusion between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress, questioning the inaction on the Centre's part in the "open-and-shut" National Herald case even as leaders from his party were jailed in what he claimed were false cases.

"People ask why the BJP has sent five of AAP's top leaders to jail but not a single Congress leader. They shout endlessly about the National Herald case, which I myself read about online. As per facts available online, it looks like an open-and-shut case. Yet despite serious allegations, no one from the Gandhi family has gone to jail, while we are jailed in completely fabricated cases," Kejriwal said addressing party MLAs and councillors at New Delhi's Constitutional Club on Thursday.

Citing inaction in the case, Kejriwal has now alleged a nexus between the two national parties even as AAP leaders were being hounded. The remarks came just days after AAP leader and former Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj was raided by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a case linked to the alleged hospital construction scam.

"People are not fools. Today there is widespread talk – some say Mayawati has compromised, some say (Asaduddin) Owaisi has, but most people now say the Congress has compromised… We came into politics for the love of the country and not for compromise. We will keep fighting for the nation. You should never compromise for the sake of party, power, yourself or your family. If I have to compromise, I will compromise for my country," said Kejriwal.

The Aam Aadmi Party, which lost power in Delhi earlier this year, recently walked out of the INDIA bloc of Opposition parties, claiming that the arrangement was meant to last only till the Lok Sabha elections.

The AAP is also up against the Congress in Punjab, the only state where it remains in power, with elections due in 2027. The party has, however, vowed support to the Opposition's joint candidate in the Vice President elections next month.

Hitting out at the BJP government in Delhi, Kejriwal claimed that the AAP would win 70 seats in the capital if the elections were held today.

"While we were in power, there were no power cuts. I stay in Lutyens’ Delhi and there are at least five power cuts during the day. There are power cuts, private schools have hiked fees, roads are broken, sewers are jammed. They are demolishing jhuggis (slums) and have made life difficult for the poor," he alleged.

The BJP, however, countered the AAP supremo's claims and said that Kejriwal had lost the confidence of his own party leaders.

"Most AAP MLAs and councillors have been distancing themselves from the party ever since the elections. A political environment has been created in which it’s clear that Kejriwal has lost trust of his party men," Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said.