The Aam Aadmi Party informed that Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann will meet party convener and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in Tihar jail today. The meeting, which is set to be held around noon, comes after the intense political drama wherein AAP alleged that the party convener was being stripped of his fundamental rights behind bars and was being subjected to deplorable treatment.
Earlier, addressing a press conference, senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh alleged that CM Kejriwal is being stripped of his fundamental rights inside the jail. While highlighting “blatant discrimination," Singh said, the administration allowed Kejriwal “only a glass wall meeting” with his wife Sunita and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, while notorious criminals “enjoy face-to-face encounters.”
"When the wife of Arvind Kejriwal applied to meet him, she was told that you cannot meet him face-to-face but through a window. They are only allowed to meet him through the jangla (an iron mesh that separates the inmate from the visitor in a room inside the jail). Why such inhuman behavior? This inhuman act has been done just to humiliate and discourage the CM. I am saying with full responsibility that even the dreaded criminals are allowed to meet in the barrack, but a three-time CM of Delhi is allowed to meet his wife through a window with a glass in between." AAP MP Sanjay Singh said.
"Today, the fight is to save democracy and the Constitution. I would request PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah not to take away the rights of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, which are guaranteed constitutionally, democratically, legally, and under the prison rules. Don't try to be a dictator," the AAP leader added.
It is pertinent to note that CM Arvind Kejriwal is presently lodged in Tihar jail. He was arrested by ED on March 21 over money laundering charges in the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy case.
A security arrangement was made ahead of the Mann and Kejriwal meeting.
Meanwhile, the Tihar jail administration completed preparations ahead of the meeting between Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. The Tihar jail officials, Delhi Police, and Punjab Police, in a meeting held earlier, took stock of the security arrangements for Mann's meeting.
The meeting started at 11 a.m. at the office of the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Rajiv Parihar in Tihar and concluded around 3 p.m., an official said.
