NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday came under fire as the rival BJP and the Congress party criticised the ex-Delhi chief minister for using “VIP convoy” without having a constitutional post.
Kejriwal, who reached the AAP-ruled Punjab for “Vipassana” on Tuesday, served as MLA from the New Delhi constituency before the humiliating defeat in the assembly polls last month.
Highlighting Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann‘s absence from the convoy, the BJP lashed out at Kejriwal, calling it “VIP arrogance at its peak”.
BJP leader and Delhi minister Manjinder Singh Sira shared a quote from Greek philosopher Plato to corner Kejriwal over his Punjab visit, question why the Punjab taxpayers’ money was used for “funding” Kejriwal’s “Vipassana”.
“Arvind Kejriwal, who once pretended to be a common man in a WagonR, now moves in a lavish convoy of bulletproof Land Cruisers, 100+ Punjab Police commandos, jammers & ambulances—like a VIP Maharaja all for Vipassana, a retreat meant for peace! If power was his test, he has failed miserably. What kind of ‘Vipassana’ requires a grand security parade funded by Punjab taxpayers? Even CM Bhagwant Mann isn’t in the convoy! AAP’s truth is out—deception, hypocrisy, and VIP arrogance at its peak!” Sirsa wrote on X.
The Congress party also spared no words to slam Kejriwal. In a dig, Congress MP Pramod Tiwari said “maybe Kejriwal couldn’t handle the defeat [in Delhi assembly polls]”.
“Maybe he couldn’t handle the defeat. He went for Vipassana, in search of peace, and for his health. I don’t want to say much about this. I just want to say that winning and losing is part of politics. If you travel with a convoy of 100 cars, then undoubtedly, the criticism raised by Congress is justified,” Tiwari told news agency IANS.
Kejriwal on Tuesday reached Punjab’s Hoshiarpur for a 10-day Vipassana session which will start from Wednesday. Along with his wife Sunita Kejriwal, the former Delhi chief minister arrived at the Forest Rest House in Chohal, about 14 kilometers from Hoshiarpur.
He’ll take a 10-day Vipassana meditation course at the Dhamma Dhaja Vipassana Centre (DDVC), located in village Anandgarh, around 11 km from Hoshiarpur, party sources said.
The AAP that ruled Delhi from 2015 to 2024 on the back of massive mandates, managed to win just 22 of the 70 Assembly seats in the latest election.
The BJP ended the dominance of the Kejriwal-led party winning 48 seats. Several AAP leaders, including Manish Sisodia, Saurabh Bharadwaj, Satyendar Jain, and Somnath Bharti, lost.
