AAP to hold referendum if Kejriwal can continue as CM if arrested

The Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday said it will hold a "referendum" in Delhi and other parts of the country on whether Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal should resign if he is arrested by the Enforcement Directorate or continue to run the government from jail.

The decision was taken at a meeting Kejriwal held with AAP councillors. The party, however, did not announce any date for the "referendum".

Kejriwal was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) last week for questioning in connection with its money laundering probe linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam, but he skipped the summons saying it was "politically motivated".

AAP MLA and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) incharge Durgesh Pathak said the BJP was decimated by the AAP in Delhi and now it is conspiring to send Kejriwal to jail in a fake case, thinking he will resign from the chief minister's post and the AAP will be destroyed.

"Everywhere the AAP is contesting elections, the BJP is being completely destroyed. It has understood now that the only way out is to send AAP leaders to jail in a fake case and not let them come out," he charged.

During Tuesday's meeting that went on for one-and-a-half hours, all AAP councillors unanimously urged Kejriwal to not think of resigning even if "Modi ji gets him arrested and run the government from jail to expose conspiracies against him", Pathak said.

Kejriwal listened to the councillors and assured them that he will take a final decision after consulting party leaders and workers in Punjab and other parts of the country, he said.

Pathak said it was decided that the AAP will hold a "referendum" in Delhi and go to every household to ask people whether Kejriwal should resign in case he is arrested by the ED or continue to run the government from jail.

The exercise will also be carried out in other parts of the country through public meetings, he said.

Former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia was arrested earlier by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the Delhi excise policy case in February this year. His bail application was recently rejected by the Supreme Court.

AAP MP Sanjay Singh was arrested last month by the ED after an hours-long raid at his residence in connection with its money laundering probe into the alleged scam.