No tension over going back to Tihar; AAP will not be finished even if you hang me: CM Kejriwal

New Delhi, May 23 (PTI) AAP national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, whose interim bail ends on June 1, said he felt no “tension or anxiety” over going back to Tihar Jail and considered incarceration as part of his “struggle” to save the country.

Kejriwal, arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case linked to the alleged excise policy scam, was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court on May 10 to campaign for the ongoing Lok Sabha polls.

In an interview to PTI Videos, the Delhi chief minister said he read the ‘Gita’ twice in Tihar jail during his nearly one-month stay there before getting the interim bail, and claimed it changed his outlook.

He said what gave him the strength to tolerate his stay at Tihar was the tales of freedom fighters who spent years of incarceration without any hope, while he consoled himself thinking he would get out of jail in a few months .

“I have no tension or anxiety. I will go back if I have to.. I consider it as part of my struggle to save the country,” he said when asked about being sent back to Tihar.

Recalling his previous stay in jail, Kejriwal said he read three-four books, including the ‘Gita’, the ‘Ramayana’ and on the political history of the country.

He also alleged that in Tihar, he was under round-the-clock surveillance through CCTV cameras installed in his cell that were monitored by 13 jail officials as well as by the PMO.

“Just imagine being watched for every movement of yours for 24 hours. It will make life difficult. There was no moment for me to be relaxed,” he said.

He further claimed that the prison guards told him that officials questioned whether or not he was weeping or depressed.

On the issue of electoral bonds, the AAP convenor said that if INDIA bloc comes to power, a probe will be ordered into the “biggest scam” of the independent India.

“It’s a bundle of thousands of scams. Almost each donation that the BJP has received is in return of some favour. It’s quid pro quo – the donors got some tender or work. It’s also alleged that donors got bail,” he charged.

The AAP chief, whose party has faced flak from the BJP which accused it of not being able to check the Khalistani elements in Punjab and receiving foreign funds, said the charges were “laughable”.

“The prime minister, three days before the Punjab Assembly polls in February 2022, said in a rally at Abohar that Kejriwal wants to break the country to form Khalistan and become its prime minister. Is it believable?” he questioned.

He said that the alleged liquor scam was like the Khalistan charge. “I laughed at all these.”

He asserted that AAP will not be finished even if he was hanged.

“I say hang Kejriwal if you think the Aam Aadmi Party will be finished by hanging (him). AAP is not a party, it’s a thought. One Kejriwal dies, hundreds more will be born,” he said.

On the question of AAP being named as an accused in the excise policy scam being probed by the ED, Kejriwal claimed soon all other opposition parties will be made accused in different cases and their accounts will be freezed.

“All will have to come together to save the country. Party is not important, the country has to be saved,” he said on the survival of AAP after he is sent back to jail.

Replying to a question on AAP’s alliance with the Congress for the Lok Sabha polls in Delhi, Kejriwal said that his party will do anything to save the country.