Will surrender on June 2; take care of my old, ailing parents: Arvind Kejriwal to supporters
New Delhi, May 31: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Friday that he will be surrendering on June 2 and, in an emotional appeal, asked the people to take care of his old and ailing parents after he is gone.
"I will leave my house around 3 pm (on Sunday) to surrender. It is possible that this time they will torture me more, but I will not bow down," he said.
He assured the people of Delhi that all the facilities available to them will continue even in his absence.
"You take care of yourself, I worry a lot about you in jail. If you are happy, your Kejriwal will also be happy.
"I will not be among you, of course, but you don't worry, all your work will continue... And after returning, I will also start giving Rs 1000 every month to every mother and sister," he said in a virtual press conference.
Making an appeal to the Delhiites who stood by him in difficult times to look after his aged and ailing parents, he said he has always fulfilled his duty as a son "of your family".
"Today I want to ask something from you for my family. My parents are very old, my mother is very ill. I will worry a lot about her in jail.
"Take care of my parents after I am gone, pray for them, pray to God. Prayers have great power. If you pray for my mother daily, she will definitely remain healthy," he said.
Kejriwal said his wife Sunita is very strong and has supported him in every difficult phase of life.
"When difficult times come, the whole family comes together, you all have supported me a lot in difficult times. It is because of your prayers that I am alive today and your blessings will protect me in the future too. In the end, I just want to say that if God wishes, your son will come back very soon," he said.
He assured the people that all facilities available to them, including 24-hour free electricity and women's bus travel, will continue.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court till June 1 for the Lok Sabha election campaigning. After being released from the Tihar jail here, Kejriwal visited Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Delhi and Maharashtra for campaigning.
"We are all fighting dictatorship together... If something happens to me while saving the country, if I even lose my life, do not be sad," Kejriwal said.
"I will go back to the Tihar jail day after tomorrow. I do not know how many days these people will keep me in the jail this time. But my spirits are high.
"I am proud that I am going to jail to save the country from dictatorship. They tried to break me in many ways, tried to bow me down and tried to silence me. But they did not succeed," the chief minister said.
The AAP supremo alleged that when he was in the jail recently, he was "tortured" in many ways. He said his medicines were stopped.
"I have been a serious diabetic (patient) for 20 years. For the last 10 years, I have been getting insulin injections daily. I get injections in my stomach four times every day," he said, alleging that in the jail, his insulin injections were stopped for many days.
He said his sugar levels reached 300, 325 (mg/dL). If the sugar remains so high for so many days, the kidney and liver get damaged, he added.
"I don't know what these people wanted and why did they do this," he said.
Talking about the unexplained weight loss during his incarceration, the AAP supremo said during his 50-day stay in the jail, he lost six kg of weight.
"When I went to jail, my weight was 70 kg. Today it is 64 kg. Even after being released from jail, my weight is not increasing," he said.
Kejriwal said the doctors are saying that this can also be a sign of some major disease in his body. The ketone level in his urine has also increased considerably and many tests need to be done, he reiterated.
Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva hit back at Kejriwal and said he has a "disease of lying".
"Delhi CM (Arvind Kejriwal) has said that he has a serious disease. I agree with what he has said. He has a disease of lying," he said.
Sachdeva said Kejriwal did the election campaigning. However, when now the time has come for him to go to jail, he is reminding everyone of his diseases, the BJP leader added.
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Karnataka Lokayukta to register case, probe Bowring wall collapse
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Lokayukta Justice B S Patil on Thursday took serious note of the compound wall collapse at Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital in the city that killed seven people, and announced registration of a case on its own while warning of action against officials found responsible.
The Lokayukta, who visited the site and conducted an inspection, expressed strong displeasure over the incident and questioned the inaction of authorities, even as police and emergency teams had earlier rushed to the spot to rescue victims trapped under the debris following heavy rain, strong winds and a hailstorm on Wednesday evening.
“I will now register a suo motu case. This is not just about this one incident — such incidents must not occur anywhere in the state or the city in the future,” Justice Patil told reporters.
Seven people, including a six-year-old girl, were killed and seven others injured when the compound wall collapsed as rain-battered victims had taken shelter near it, according to police. The victims included people from Kerala who were in the city on a study tour.
Calling for systemic accountability, the Lokayukta said, “Dilapidated buildings and weakened compound walls, especially in areas with public access, must first be identified. They must either be repaired, demolished, or rebuilt.”
He added that responsibility would be fixed on officials of the BBMP and the concerned departments.
Justice Patil said that hearings would be conducted and preventive action initiated, while also probing those responsible for it, how the incident could have been prevented, and why it was not prevented.
A Scene of Crime Officers (SOCO) team and a Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team also inspected the site, while police cordoned off Kovil Street to facilitate the probe.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said the government had initiated measures following the rain-related incidents and stressed preparedness.
“Since last night we have initiated measures regarding the rains. When it rains heavily, we must be prepared, and we are working towards that,” he told reporters here.
On the wall collapse, Shivakumar said, “I will not directly blame any officials. It was an old wall, and trees had grown alongside it. Due to that pressure, it collapsed.”
The Deputy CM said instructions had been issued to identify such vulnerable structures and clear areas around them, including relocating street vendors.
Karnataka Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil said a technical assessment had been ordered.
“This is a very serious matter. Innocent people have been affected. We are issuing directions to the engineers to find out why this compound wall collapsed and to assess its structural strength,” he told reporters after inspecting the spot.
The Minister noted that the wall was ‘very old’ and required thorough examination to prevent recurrence.
Speaking to reporters, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge asked the Karnataka government to take precautions to ensure that incidents like the collapse of the Bengaluru government hospital compound wall, which caused loss of life, should not repeat.
Meanwhile, addressing a press conference, Shivajinagar MLA Rizwan Arshad said the collapse raised questions about construction and maintenance practices.
“If a wall collapses within 25 years of its construction, it needs to be examined -- whether there was any technical issue, or if anything was altered inside, weakening it. All this can only come out through a technical investigation,” he said.
The Congress MLA also called for wider structural audits across the city, stating that all such structures, whether private or government, must be audited.
He urged citizens to support victims, saying it was a collective responsibility in times of crisis.
