Arvind Kejriwal says AAP not in race for 2019 general election

Mumbai: Social activist Anna Hazare on Tuesday expressed his disappointment on the warm embrace his former protege Arvind Kejriwal and Lalu Prasad shared on stage on the sidelines of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's oath-taking ceremony in Patna on Friday.

The younger son of Lalu Prasad was speaking at the first meeting of RJD MLAs and office-bearers after the election victory.

Lauding his govt's anti-corruption drive, Kejriwal said that there is no such instance in the past that a govt sacked its own minister found involved in corruption. Along with the two CMs, the Prime Minister of Bhutan and delegates from the US, China and Japan are likely to attend the summit, which has been conceived to rejuvenate the industrial scenario in Bengal.

Both the RJD leaders asked the legislators to "behave in a decent manner" to safeguard the honour of the Grand Alliance comprising the Janata Dal-United, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress.

CM Kejriwal clarified, saying: "it was Lalu, who pulled me and raised my hand" and that it certainly "did not amount to an alliance". People ask if AAP is in a race for 2019?

Defending his anti-graft credentials, Kejriwal said that AAP worked "against BJP" during the Bihar assembly polls and supported the chief ministerial candidature of Nitish Kumar.

"I went to Bihar. You would have heard of it. But what is different is, we saved 100 cr rupees on it. 247 cr rupees project was completed in 150 CR's", he said. Expelled AAP chief Yogendra Yadav described it as a "shameful" act. Nitish is a good person.

The AAP was born of a movement against corruption.

"Laloo made crores in fodder scam". People have told us that Nitish has done good work. This might give critics of AAP a chance to accuse him of going against his party's motto and supporting a corrupt politician. Just 25 lakh fine and few years in jail.