I was jailed to stall projects like Mohalla Clinics, Yamuna cleaning: Satyendar Jain

New Delhi, Oct 18 (PTI) Senior AAP leader Satyendar Jain, who came out of jail on Friday evening, said in his first reactions that he was arrested to stall the AAP government's projects such as Mohalla Clinics and Yamuna river cleaning.

The former Delhi government minister also alleged that he and AAP leaders like Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh were arrested to dissuade common people from joining politics in the country.

Jain later on met AAP supremo Kejriwal at his Firozshah Road residence.

Jain charged that his arrest was part of an attempt to defame Kejriwal, who is working hard to ensure the government works for the common man and not for a few chosen ones.

"We will continue our fight against injustice and work for the common man," Jain told a crowd of AAP leaders and workers outside the Tihar jail after his release.

"I was arrested to stop Arvind Kejriwal’s work like building mohalla clinics, constructing the highest number of hospital beds in the world in Delhi, working on cleaning the Yamuna—I was arrested to put an end to all of this," he said.

"We will do all the work and show the world what we are capable of.” Jain also made a light-hearted remark towards Delhi Chief Minister Atishi referring to her Harvard education, and said "Atishi ji, you will also have to go to jail, but we will continue to fight against injustice. They want to tarnish Arvind Kejriwal’s image, to show that he is just like them. But he is not like them." Asserting Kejriwal's honesty and fight against corruption, Jain also warned AAP workers that they should also be ready to go to jail because their leader worked for the masses.

The AAP leader, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case in March 2022, was greeted by Delhi Chief Minister Atishi, party leader Manish Sisodia, Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh and several MLAs and leaders.

The party in a statement said that Jain walked out of jail after 873 days.

Jain hugged Sisodia and Singh as he stepped out of the Tihar Jail and waved to the waiting gathering of supporters.

Earlier in the day, Jain was granted bail by a court in the city on the grounds of delay in start of trial and his long period of imprisonment. PTI