New Delhi: AAP leader Manish Sisodia has written a letter from the Tihar jail to the people of his Assembly constituency, comparing his plight with the atrocities committed by the British against freedom fighters and asserting his commitment towards education for children.
The former Delhi deputy chief minister, who has been arrested in connection with the alleged excise policy scam, also expressed hope that he will be out of jail soon.
“Will meet you soon outside. The British rulers also had the arrogance of power and sent people to jail in false cases,” Sisodia said, adding that Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, who spent many years in prison, were his inspiration.
A court here is scheduled to hear Sisodia’s bail plea on Saturday.
A photo of the letter, shared by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on its official X handle, shows it was written by Sisodia, who is lodged in jail number 1 of the Tihar prison complex, on March 15.
In the letter addressed to the people of his Patparganj Assembly constituency in east Delhi, Sisodia said a struggle for good education and schools for children is underway, just like people fought for the country’s freedom.
“Education revolution zindabad. Love you all,” Sisodia, who also served as the education minister in the Arvind Kejriwal government before his arrest, added.
He said his love for the people of his constituency has grown in jail and they are his strength. “I am getting around a dozen letters from Patparganj and different parts of the country every day,” the AAP leader said.
Despite the dictatorship of the British rulers, the dream to achieve freedom was realised. Similarly, every child will get good education one day, Sisodia asserted.
Good education is necessary for a developed country, he said.
The former deputy chief minister said “every post and honour” is inconsequential compared to the love and affection he has received from people and added that he saw people waiting and peeping into his prison van during his court appearances to greet him and was deeply touched as he thought of those moments for days.
Sisodia said his resolve towards ensuring a free and “magnificent” education system for all the children in every village, town and city has grown stronger. A magnificent education would equip the children with spiritualism and knowledge, and make them capable of not only working in top companies in the world but also setting up similar enterprises.
Sisodia, who is credited by his party with revolutionising Delhi’s education system, said the country’s politics should guarantee setting up schools, colleges and universities that are capable of generating employment, spurring economic progress and fuelling the growth of technology.
Such an India was the dream of Gandhi, Bhagat Singh, Subhas Chandra Bose and B R Ambedkar, he said, adding that he has resolved to dedicate his life to this dream.
Delhi BJP’s media cell head Praveen Kapoor and secretary Harish Khurana, in a statement, said Sisodia’s letter seems to be an attempt to establish his “political relevance” and that it appears that a “tussle for supremacy” among Kejriwal, Sanjay Singh and Sisodia has started.
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