Celebrations erupt at AAP office as Kejriwal gets bail, party calls it ‘loss for dictatorship’

New Delhi, Sep 13 (PTI) Celebrations erupted outside the AAP headquarters here on Friday after the Supreme Court granted bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a corruption case lodged by the CBI in connection with the excise policy ‘scam’.

Several AAP leaders and workers gathered outside the party headquarters and distributed sweets and burst crackers to celebrate the release of their party supremo.

Meanwhile, outside the chief minister’s residence, Kejriwal’s wife, Sunita Kejriwal, along with senior AAP leaders and workers, also distributed sweets as party supporters raised slogans like “Aa gaye bhai aa gaye, Kejriwal aa gaye” and “jail ke taale toot gaye, Kejriwal chooth gaye”.

Senior AAP leaders Manish Sisodia, Atishi, Sanjay Singh and his wife Anita were also present at the spot.

“BJP’s plans have been foiled. They wanted to put opposition leaders behind the bars to stay in power,” Sunita Kejriwal told reporters.

The bail order comes almost three and a half months after the Delhi chief minister surrendered on June 2, ahead of the Lok Sabha poll results.

Several AAP workers were also seen dancing to the beats of ‘dhols’ outside the AAP headquarters, where Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj also reached to join the celebrations.

Cabinet minister Gopal Rai, who was also present at the occasion, called the event a “big victory for our party and a loss for dictatorship”.

Sweets were also distributed outside senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia’s residence. Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the excise policy linked money laundering case on March 21.

During the Lok Sabha elections, he was granted interim bail by the top court in the case. The court gave him relief for 21 days to participate in the election campaigns.

However, on June 26, he was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a separate excise policy case, while he was still in Tihar jail under judicial custody.