To taunt Modi, Kejriwal piggybacks on Kanhaiya’s famous azadi slogans

A day after he became the first major leader to call Kanhaiya Kumar’s speech “brilliant”, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal went a step further as he appropriated the slogans raised in JNU to make a case against the Centre’s alleged interventions in the working of the Aam Aadmi Party government.

“Hum kya maangte, azadi. LG ke hastakshep se azadi. Kendra ke hastakshep se azadi. Janta ko nirnay lene ki azadi. Rajnaitik ahankaar se azadi (We want freedom. Freedom from LG’s interference. Freedom from Centre’s interference. The freedom of people to take decisions. Freedom from political arrogance),” the AAP leader tweeted.

In the middle of Kanhaiya’s speech on Thursday shortly after his 22-day imprisonment in a sedition case, Kejriwal had tweeted, “What a brilliant speech,” he said. He said he saw the speech “many times” and admired Kanhaiya for his “clarity of thought”. “God bless him,” he added.

“I had told (Prime Minister Narendra) Modiji many times not to antagonise the students, but he would not listen,” the AAP leader said in another tweet, promptly retweeted by his deputy, Manish Sisodia.

Since coming back to power last year following an election in which the BJP was decimated in Delhi, the AAP government led by Kejriwal has repeatedly accused the Centre of using Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung’s office to prevent it from working.

Kejriwal, who has had an acrimonious relationship with the Modi government, has been demanding complete statehood for the national capital to ensure that it is not controlled by the Centre.