Kejriwal slams Gujarat govt over farmers’ arrests, claims BJP’s days in power numbered

Rajkot, Dec 8 (PTI) Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal on Monday launched a scathing attack on the BJP-led Gujarat government over its action against farmers who were jailed after violence during a protest in Botad district, saying the saffron party's days in power are numbered.

Addressing a gathering, Kejriwal claimed that 88 farmers were arrested — 46 of whom are still behind bars — for demanding their rightful dues during a protest staged at Haddad under the leadership of the AAP in October.

Local farmers and AAP leaders were arrested after a violent clash with the police during the 'Kisan Mahapanchayat' organised to protest against alleged unfair practices at the Botad Agricultural Produce market Committee (APMC) in October.

The former Delhi chief minister felicitated farmers of Haddad at an event here, and said they had shown extraordinary courage, and the entire nation stands with them.

He assured that every false case filed against farmers will be dropped once the AAP comes to power in the state.

"I assure you that within two years, the BJP government will fall. Every false FIR will be revoked within 24 hours of our government being formed. The ministers who sent farmers to jail will be sent to jail themselves. I have come here today to salute your courage. Not only Gujarat, but the entire nation stands with you," he said.

Gujarat is due for the assembly elections in 2027.

Kejriwal said he was jailed for raising his voice for the people of Delhi and providing them with good schools, hospitals, free electricity, and free bus services.

"After coming to power in Delhi, they (BJP) shut hospitals, closed mohalla clinics, and are now shutting schools. I received several calls today advising me not to attend this meeting, or they would again frame me in false cases. But I am not afraid. They can jail me 100 times, but I will stand with the poor and oppressed," he said.

He further claimed that the Congress and the BJP were the same, and the AAP was the true alternative to the saffron party in Gujarat.

"My question is: why do you vote for such people? They beat you, they jail your children, and yet during elections, you vote for them. People say they had no alternative — both parties were the same... But now, Gujarat has an alternative — the Aam Aadmi Party. Do not fear jail. I have spent six months in jail. Former deputy CM Manish Sisodia spent two and a half years in jail," he said.

He said the farmer's protest will not go in vain, as it has awakened Gujarat.

"Liquor and drugs are being sold in every corner of Gujarat, yet the government does not arrest those responsible. They don't catch the makers of spurious liquor, but they jail farmers — because the liquor sellers are their own people, and the money goes straight into their party," he claimed, attacking the BJP.

Gujarat is a dry state, where the manufacture and sale of liquor is prohibited.

Kejriwal said that the agitation of farmers at Haddad was for the rights of all farmers across Gujarat.

"Just as our people once launched the 'Quit India' Movement against the British, today Haddad's uprising is emerging as a 'BJP Quit Gujarat' movement," he added. PTI KA PD ARU