Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by ED on Thursday evening. Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party made it clear that despite this arrest, Kejriwal will not leave his post and will run the government while remaining in jail.
Aam Aadmi Party and Arvind Kejriwal are under threat of arrest for a long time. Due to this, the National Convener of Aam Aadmi Party approached the Delhi High Court for the second consecutive day demanding security. On Thursday, the High Court also saw the evidence file of ED and then refused to grant relief to Kejriwal.
Shortly after Kejriwal was removed from the court, the ED team reached his house. Kejriwal was arrested after about two hours of interrogation. After the arrest of Kejriwal, Aam Aadmi Party made it clear that they are not going to leave the post of Chief Minister. Delhi government minister Atishi said that Kejriwal has been arrested but he will run the government from jail itself. Atishi said, he will become the Chief Minister of Delhi. Atishi said that if necessary, a case will be filed in the Supreme Court and special permission will be sought so that Kejriwal can hold meetings of officials and cabinet in jail.
A campaign was launched in Delhi
ED had sent summons to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in October last year. Since then, Aam Aadmi Party had expressed apprehension of his arrest. In view of this, Aam Aadmi Party launched a campaign named 'Main Bhi Kejriwal' and asked the people of Delhi whether Kejriwal should resign after his arrest or run the government from jail? After this, Aam Aadmi Party claimed that most of the people of Delhi are in this party that Kejriwal should run the government from jail.
Is it possible to run a government from jail?
From Lalu Prasad Yadav to Hemant Soren, many Chief Ministers have gone to jail on corruption charges. However, all these leaders had resigned before going to jail, but if Kejriwal does not resign, it is possible that this will be the first time that a Chief Minister will be lodged inside jail. The big question is whether Kejriwal can run the government from jail? According to experts, there is no such legal responsibility against Kejriwal. There is no mention in the Constitution whether if a minister or chief minister is arrested, he will have to resign or not. However, this is a question of morality.
The special thing is that Kejriwal has not kept any department with himself. However, they have to attend cabinet meetings and do a lot of work including meetings with officials and handling files. If Kejriwal takes over as Chief Minister while being in jail, the work of the government will be hampered. Earlier, when Manish Sisodia and Satyendra Jain were arrested, they had remained ministers for months. However, his ministry was handed over to other ministers.