Gahlot unfurls flag, calls Delhi CM ‘modern-day freedom fighter’

Delhi minister Kailash Gahlot, who on Thursday unfurled the Tricolour during the Capital’s Independence Day celebrations as a stand-in for chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, hailed the CM as a modern-day freedom fighter who chose to go to jail rather than bow down before anti-democratic forces.
“I am distressed thinking that a democratically elected chief minister is behind bars… and today, I am compelled to be present in his place. Standing here under this Tricolour, I can proudly say that Arvind Kejriwal is a modern-day freedom fighter,” Gahlot said after unfurling the national flag at Independence Day celebrations at Chhatrasal stadium.
“Arvind Kejriwal accepted the punishment for working for the people of Delhi by going to jail, but he has not accepted bowing down or breaking before the forces standing against democracy. For every person who believes in democracy, it is a matter of concern and contemplation whether we achieved freedom just so that one day an elected chief minister could be imprisoned without any evidence,” Gahlot added.
Since the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) came to power in 2015, Kejriwal has unfurled the Tricolour at the state-level function every year. In his absence, this year’s event was not devoid of political drama.
On August 6, Kejriwal wrote to lieutenant governor (LG) VK Saxena from prison, asking that Atishi, who is in charge of 12 ministries in the state government, would unfurl the flag in his stead. On August 9, however, the Tihar administration censured Kejriwal for sending the letter, ostensibly in contravention of prison rules, and said that it was not forwarded to the LG’s office.
On August 12, the AAP again forwarded Atishi’s name through general administration department (GAD) minister Gopal Rai, and asked the head of the agency to make arrangements for her visit to Chhatrasal.
The following day, however, Saxena nominated Gahlot instead of the CM’s preferred pick.
Though the AAP welcomed the decision, the sequence of events raised eyebrows and led to suggestions of Gahlot’s closeness with the LG, and consequently with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). During his speech, however, the minister strongly backed Kejriwal, criticised his incarceration in no uncertain terms, and hailed the Delhi government’s work under the CM’s leadership.
The BJP later criticised Gahlot for delivering a purely political speech at a solemn national event.
“I am confident that our beloved chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, will also soon be released and will continue to uphold the flag of Independence Day for many years to come,” Gahlot told the audience, which included all the ministers of the Delhi government, several MLAs, chief secretary Naresh Kumar, and senior officers of the Delhi government.
“Since Kejriwal became the chief minister of Delhi, he has faced a new challenge every day, and by overcoming each of these challenges, he has been working for the people of Delhi with great dedication. Although all his powers were taken away, he still ensured that no work in Delhi came to a halt. The Supreme Court granted Kejriwal the power to transfer and post Delhi’s officials. However, an ordinance was brought and then a law was passed to snatch away the democratic rights of the people of Delhi,” Gahlot added.
“The powers of the elected government of Delhi have been snatched. Despite this, Kejriwal did not allow any work to stop, and today, from this place, I want to reassure the two crore people of Delhi on behalf of Kejriwal that no matter what happens, no matter how much power is taken away, the work for the people will continue. Your free electricity, free education, free healthcare, and free travel for women in buses will continue as before,” he said.
The minister also elaborated on the work done by the AAP government in various sectors including education and health care. “Under the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal, we have constructed 22,000 classrooms in the government schools while in the last 7 decades only 17,000 classrooms were constructed since Independence,” said Gahlot, adding that around 400,000 students have joined government schools from private schools. He pointed out that the AAP government has opened 540 mohalla clinics where 65,000 people get free treatment every day.
To be sure, the minister did not mention the recent deaths of IAS aspirants in a coaching centre’s flooded basement, or incidents of waterlogging that left several people drowned, and the deaths in government’s shelter home in North Delhi — all topics that have been subjects of heated tussle between the LG and the government.
Gahlot also inspected parades by contingents of the Delhi Police, the National Cadet Corps, and from students of different city schools, and accepted their salute.
The BJP hit out at the speech.
“Kailash Gahlot gave a completely political speech during the Delhi government’s Independence Day celebration and called the imprisoned chief minister Arvind Kejriwal a modern-day freedom fighter. The way Kailash Gahlot mentioned the names of Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia and praised them, it seemed as if he was not addressing the Delhi government’s ceremony but addressing party workers from the Aam Aadmi Party’s platform,” Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said. “By doing so, Gahlot insulted democracy and the Constitution, and the people of Delhi will never forgive him,” he added.