Amid a recent influx of opposition politicians into the BJP, Union minister Anurag Thakur said that while the party continues to attract rivals, it will never accept Aam Aadmi Party leaders Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, who are facing serious charges of corruption.
Hours after Kejriwal was released from jail on interim bail in the liquor scam case, Thakur said in an interview with PTI late Friday that Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal has not been absolved of the charges against him and will have to return to jail after June 1 and face trial.
He also accused Kejriwal of "crushing" the Constitution by not resigning from his post despite being in jail pending trial on serious charges in the liquor excise policy case.
Thakur said people of the country have seen his alleged corruption and will not support him anymore as he stands exposed before them now.
Kejriwal was granted bail by the Supreme Court and came out of Tihar Jail on Friday evening and sought people's support in elections after his release.
"People like Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia or Satyendar Jain will never be welcome in the BJP. They will never be able" to come into the BJP, Thakur told PTI when asked if they would be allowed to join the ruling party at the Centre, as several other leaders of opposition parties have in the past despite not having any ideological leanings.
"He (Kejriwal) has not been cleared or absolved of the charges against him. The charges against him still stand and a case would continue against him in court. He has now got some relief in the wake of elections for 15-20 days. That too is interim relief with several clauses and conditions, as he cannot see or handle files related to his case, cannot comment about the cases against him, cannot visit the secretariat, cannot meet people connected to the liquor scam. After June 1, he has to return back to the jail and surrender," he told PTI.
"All those who are bursting crackers on the release of Arvind Kejriwal, it looks like the opposition is seeking the support of a twig (tinkon ka sahara) before drowning. They all will still drown," the Union minister claimed.
Asked if he would get public sympathy after he was jailed, Thakur said people have seen his corruption.
The people have seen that ED summoned him nine times, but he still did not turn up. "It seems there is something fishy. After skipping the summons nine times, he was arrested and is still dilly-dallying. I am saying today, if you have to clear this country of corruption, then decisions have to come early in such matters," he asserted.
Thakur, who is contesting the Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat in Himachal Pradesh for the fifth time in a row, also noted that "if anyone has tried to crush the Constitution, it is Arvind Kejriwal".
"Even the creators of the Constitution would have never thought that a chief minister and deputy chief minister would be in jail for corruption and still are reluctant to resign from their posts," he said.
Kejriwal claimed on Saturday that all opposition leaders, including West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, will be in jail if the BJP returns to power. He also claimed that the BJP will not remain in power anymore and an INDIA bloc government will be formed soon.
