'Advani retired after 75, why won't Modi?': Arvind Kejriwal's 5 questions to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat

Former Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the latter conspired to prove him corrupt. He also asked RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat several questions on the functioning of the BJP.  

"For the last ten years, we were running the government honestly, we made electricity and water free, made treatment free for people, made education excellent. Modi ji started thinking that if he wanted to win against them, he would have to attack their honesty and then hatched a conspiracy to prove Kejriwal, Sisodia and AAP dishonest and put each and every leader in jail," he said in public address in Delhi. 

Kejriwal said he will leave the chief minister's bungalow in a few days. "I don't even have a house. I have earned only love in ten years, the result of which is that I am getting calls from so many people asking me to take my house. After the Shraadh is over, at the beginning of Navratri, I will leave the house and come and stay at the house of one of you."

Kejriwal resigned as chief minister on Tuesday days after coming out of Tihar, where he was lodged in the excise policy case. Atishi has taken over as Delhi chief minister till the election, which is scheduled in February 2025. The former chief minister said that the lawyers told him this case can go on for ten years. 

"I cannot live with this stain. So I thought that I would go to the court of the people. If I were dishonest, I would have embezzled three thousand crores meant for free electricity, would not have made rent-free for women, would not have built schools for children. They have a government in 22 states, electricity is not free anywhere, and rent is not free for women anywhere, then who is the thief. I want to ask you is Kejriwal a thief or those who sent Kejriwal to jail are?"

Kejriwal launched a direct attack on the Prime Minister and asked the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its chief, Mohan Bhagwat, some pointed questions about the actions of Modi and the BJP. He questioned whether it was ethical for Modi to topple governments across the country by using investigative agencies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to intimidate or lure leaders. 

The AAP supremo also criticised the BJP for including corrupt politicians, whom Modi himself once labeled corrupt, into its ranks. He emphasized that since the BJP was born out of the RSS, it was the responsibility of the Sangh to prevent the party from going astray. He asked Bhagwat if the RSS had ever attempted to stop Modi from engaging in wrongdoings. 

Taking a dig at the relationship between the BJP and RSS, Kejriwal referenced BJP president JP Nadda's statement during the Lok Sabha elections that the party no longer needed the RSS. He wondered if it hurt Bhagwat to see the "son" (BJP) turning away from its "mother" (RSS). 

Kejriwal also raised the issue of leadership within the BJP, noting that the RSS had set a rule for leaders to retire after the age of 75, a rule applied to veterans like LK Advani. However, Union Home Minister Amit Shah recently suggested that this rule would not apply to Modi. "Amit Shah is saying that this rule will not apply to Modi ji. What applied to Advani ji, why will it not apply to Modi ji?" he asked the RSS chief.