Greeting the party workers, supporters, and officials from across the country on AAP’s foundation day, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said here on Sunday that the party has been the “most targeted” in the past 11 years.
On the 12th foundation day of the AAP, the AAP national convenor addressed the party workers, supporters, and the party’s office bearers across the country through a digital press conference.
Kejriwal shared that on this very day in 2012, the AAP was born.
“Emerging from the womb of a movement, it transformed from a small party to gradually becoming a national party. It became the fastest-growing party in the history of India. This is nothing short of a miracle,” the Delhi chief minister noted.
Expressing his gratitude to people for the support they rendered for the party, he said, “In these 11 years, the public has given us a lot of love. With the blessings of the public and the hard work of the party workers, governments were formed in two states, and MLAs were elected in two other states. Today, the AAP is being talked about in every corner of the country. There is an Aam Aadmi Party worker whether it’s in Kashmir or Kerala, Gujarat or Arunachal. This is a remarkable thing.”
The AAP convenor said, “I remember during the movement, people often asked us at the Ramlila Maidan, ‘You won’t be corrupt, what’s the guarantee?’ Answering this, I would like to tell everyone associated with the Aam AAP that in the past 11 years, no other political party in India’s history has been targeted as much as the AAP.”
In an apparent reference to the BJP-led Central government, Kejriwal said, “In these past 11 years, they have filed more than 250 fake cases against us. They left no agency untouched, including the ED, CBI, IT, and Delhi Police. They put all the agencies of the country against the AAP. But to this day, they have found no evidence against us, not a penny has been recovered. This is the biggest certificate of our honesty.”
On the occasion, the Delhi Chief Minister said he misses party leaders Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain, Sanjay Singh and Vijay Nair, who are in jail in “false cases”.
He said that his heart is heavy, as this is the first foundation day when party leaders Sisodia, Jain, Singh and Nair are not here with us.
“They have been jailed under false cases. BJP knows to make leaders of other parties bend through false cases but they don’t know how to do that to AAP. It is a matter of pride for us that none of our MLAs sold themselves or broke,” Kejriwal added.
The AAP national convenor further said today is also India’s Constitution Day. He said on this day, under the chairmanship of Baba Saheb Dr. B R Ambedkar, the country’s constitution was adopted.
“It cannot be just a coincidence that the AAP was established on this day. Baba Saheb and all the individuals of the country who made the supreme sacrifice in the fight for independence had only one dream – to make India the number one country in the world, and this is also the dream of the AAP,” the Delhi Chief Minister said.
Kejriwal shared on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter), “On this very day in 2012, the common people of the country came together and established their own party, the ‘Aam Aadmi Party.’ From then until today, in these 11 years, there have been many ups and downs, numerous difficulties have arisen, but there has been no decline in our collective passion and enthusiasm. A small party has transformed today, thanks to the love and blessings of the people, into a national party. The support of the people is with us, and we will continue to move forward with our strong intentions and work for the people. Heartfelt wishes to all the party workers on the founding day of the party.”