Kejriwal pays homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Raj Ghat, to visit Hanuman temple

NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal paid homage at Mahatma Gandhi's memorial at the Raj Ghat on Sunday, his first place of visit before he surrenders at the Tihar jail later in the day.

Kejriwal will now visit the Hanuman temple in Connaught Place and then address workers and leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) at its office on Rouse Avenue Road.

At the Raj Ghat, AAP national convenor Kejriwal was accompanied by his wife Sunita Kejriwal, party leaders, including Delhi ministers Atishi, Kailash Gahlot and Saurabh Bharadwaj, Rajya Sabha MPs Sanjay Singh and Sandeep Pathak, and leaders Durgesh Pathak, Rakhi Birla and Reena Gupta.

The chief minister reached the memorial around 3 pm.

Kejriwal was released from the prison on May 10 on interim bail granted by the Supreme Court in a money laundering case linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam to campaign in the Lok Sabha polls.

The bail expired on June 1, the day the last seventh and last phase of the general elections was held.

The Delhi BJP staged a protest outside the Raj Ghat against Kejriwal. Members of the party were seen being detained by police.

In a post on X in Hindi, Kejriwal, earlier in the day, said, "On orders of the honourable Supreme Court, I came out from prison for election campaign for 21 days. Many thanks to the honourable Supreme Court."

"Today I will go to Tihar and surrender. I will leave home at 3 pm. First, I will go to Raj Ghat and pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi. From there, I will go to Hanuman Temple in Connaught Place to seek blessings of Hanuman ji. And from there, I will go to the party office and meet with workers and party leaders. From there, I will leave for Tihar," the chief minister said.

"All of you take care of yourselves. I will be worried about you. If you are happy then your Kejriwal will also be happy in jail. Jai Hind," he added.