If you betray this movement, you betray God, says Kejriwal

A DAY after the Aam Aadmi Party ended a distant second to the BJP in the MCD elections, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal called upon the party’s 48 elected councillors to “stay honest and fearless” and “work closely with party volunteers and MLAS”.

During a meeting with the councillors Thursday at his official residence, Kejriwal referred to the corporation, which has been under the control of BJP for the last 10 years, as a “den of corruption” and warned of attempts by the BJP to “break” the party.

“There is no anti-defection law in municipal corporations. The BJP will try to break you… keep your phones on recording and with that we will do a press conference and show what they are up to. Hamari koi aukaat nahi thi… koi na koi chamatkar hai ki bhagwan ne CM bana diya (We had no standing. It is a miracle of God that I became a CM)… but if you betray this movement, then you will be betraying god. Yeh ek pavitra andolan hai… if you betray this party, the movement and the people’s hope then you will never be happy in life. All the money that they give, you will not be able to enjoy. God will take it all away, in fact two or three times more,” Kejriwal is heard saying in a video of the meeting released by the party.

The AAP leader, however, refrained from repeating the party’s allegations of tampering of electronic voting machines.

In his interaction with the councillors, Kejriwal also administering an oath of allegiance and honesty to the councillors.

“All of you know that this party has emerged from a movement. People have even gone to jail. You are here because of the sacrifices of a lot of people. When a new party contests elections, many a times they lose their deposits. But people love and respect this party and that is why you are here. Do not let that effort go waste. Ab aapke paas padh hai... alag-alag tarah ke laalach honge (Now you have a position...there will be different temptations). Do not give in to that,” said Kejriwal, flanked by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Delhi unit chief Dilip Pandey.

“Where you are going is a den of corruption. You have to stay honest and fearless. You have to raise your voice against corruption. Do not be afraid of anything. They have the police with them. There is nothing to fear in that. You might be jailed. In other parties, candidates have to buy tickets and, hence, when they win, they try to recover that money. But none of you had to buy a ticket and have no such liability. If you want, you can be honest,” he said.

“Volunteers are the backbone of the party. If they come to you with some work, prioritise that. They went out to seek votes for you and when you do not get their work done, it is loss of face for them. Try to bring everyone together, even those who were upset with not getting a ticket. You are like the father of the ward. You have to help the family grow bigger, not make it smaller. Work in coordination with the MLA so that people do not suffer,” said Kejriwal.

Reaching out to the corporation’s sanitation workers, Kejriwal said that the councillors must treat them as “family members” and protect them from being “exploited”.

Express A video of the meeting released by the party.