Daijiworld Media Network – New Delhi

New Delhi, Mar 1: Arvind Kejriwal, AAP national convenor, will hold a public meeting at Jantar Mantar on Sunday, Mar 1 marking his first rally after being discharged by a Delhi court in the liquor policy case.

The Aam Aadmi Party had initially claimed on Saturday that the Delhi Police was refusing permission for the rally. However, in a late-night press conference, AAP Delhi state president Saurabh Bharadwaj said permission was granted and the event will proceed as scheduled.

“Arvind Kejriwal, along with the entire leadership, will address a public meeting at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. Today, the Delhi Police had said once that this meeting could not take place. After this, AAP leaders held discussions with senior officials of the Delhi Police,” Bharadwaj said.

Responding to claims of last-minute denial, Delhi Police had earlier said the decision on the rally was pending, clarifying that permission had neither been approved nor rejected at the time.

Kejriwal also spoke on X, asserting that the attempt to cancel the rally appeared linked to Friday’s court order discharging him, former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, and 21 others in the now-scrapped excise policy case. “Holding a rally, voicing one’s opinion, these are constitutional rights of everyone. This kind of authoritarianism is not right. We should be allowed to hold the rally,” he said.

AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh added on X that Jantar Mantar is a designated place for protests and criticized the alleged obstruction by authorities, linking it to political panic from the BJP.

The court’s discharge of Kejriwal and others had previously triggered political controversy and was a key factor in the collapse of the AAP government in Delhi.