Kejriwal was doing good job, but people taught him lesson as he opened liquor vends: Hazare

Mumbai: Activist Anna Hazare has said AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal was doing a "good job" as Delhi Chief Minister, but he started opening liquor vends and faced the people's wrath as a result. A woman, Rekha Gupta, becoming the new chief minister of the national capital was a matter of pride, he told reporters on Friday, adding that the people voted for her because of her "pure thoughts and deeds". As chief minister, Kejriwal should have set an example before society but went astray, said the octogenarian activist whose anti-corruption movement is credited for the birth of the Aam Aadmi Party. "The earlier CM (Kejriwal) was doing a good job and became Delhi chief minister thrice. I did not speak anything (against him) as he was doing a good job. But then, he slowly started opening liquor vends and issuing licences. Then I got upset," Hazare told reporters, referring to the AAP government's controversial excise policy.

Hazare, notably, is known for a staunch opposition to the consumption or sale of liquor. Kejriwal was once Hazare's associate in the anti-corruption movement, but the two parted ways after the former formed the AAP in 2012. In the elections earlier this month, the BJP ousted the AAP from power in Delhi, with Kejriwal losing his seat. The Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate have alleged that irregularities had been committed while modifying the Delhi excise policy 2021-22 and undue favours extended to licence holders. The policy was later scrapped.