New Delhi (Gurpreet Singh): Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday announced that he will march to the Prime Minister’s residence on 4 August to personally submit more than two lakh online petitions signed by people across the country against E20 petrol. He said he would leave at 12 noon with a group of 100 people to hand over the petitions to the Prime Minister.
The AAP Chief appealed to only those who are not afraid of police ‘lathis’ (batons) or imprisonment to join him in the march. Expressing hope that he would be treated similarly to the Leader of the Opposition (LoP), he said he expected to be allowed to proceed up to the same point.
During a National Townhall Against E20, AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal said, “A few days ago, I asked the people of the country to sign a petition addressed to the Prime Minister. So far, more than 2 lakh people have signed it online. I have taken printouts of the petitions and, at 12 noon on Tuesday, 4 August, I will personally go to the Prime Minister’s residence to hand them over. There is no need for everyone to come. I will take only 100 people with me who are not afraid of police ‘lathis’ (batons) or going to jail. Those who wish to join should tag me and let me know. We will march towards the Prime Minister’s residence with those 100 people, and then we will see what happens.”
He asserted, “Whenever people raise their voice against the Prime Minister, FIRs are lodged against them. There are many people whose lives have been made miserable because of this. It means something is clearly wrong, and something is wrong with E20. If E20 were truly safe, they would sit across the table and have a discussion. We would present our evidence, and they could present theirs. But when they resort to threats instead, it only shows that something is wrong.”
Responding to a question about his announcement to march to the Prime Minister’s residence and the related security concerns, Arvind Kejriwal said, “Just as the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) was allowed to go up to a certain point, I hope we too will at least be allowed to reach that point.”
The AAP Chief emphasised, “PM Modi has become weak before US President Donald Trump. The Prime Minister clearly has some compulsion, because of which he has mortgaged the entire country before Donald Trump, and the people of India are suffering. Whatever those compulsions may be, we request him that if he cannot overcome them, he should resign. He should allow someone else to become Prime Minister, someone who can at least look Donald Trump in the eye and stand up to him, instead of making the entire country suffer.”
