Former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday fired back at Union Home Minister Amit Shah, defending his decision to govern from jail and accusing the Centre of falsely implicating him in a politically motivated case.

Kejriwal was responding to Shah's recent remarks questioning whether it was appropriate for a chief minister or prime minister to run a government from behind bars. The comment came as the government defended its proposed Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, which seeks automatic removal of any minister, CM, or PM detained for more than 30 days on serious criminal charges.

“In a political conspiracy, the Centre framed me in a fake case and sent me to jail. From there, I ran the Delhi government for 160 days,” Kejriwal said in a post on X (formerly Twitter), sharing a clip of Shah’s interview with news agency ANI.

Kejriwal, who was arrested in March 2024 in connection with the Delhi liquor policy case, became the first sitting CM to be taken into custody. He continued to function as CM from jail, stepping down only after being granted bail.

Taking a sharp dig at Shah and the BJP, Kejriwal questioned whether those who induct people with serious criminal records into their party — and even appoint them as ministers — should be held to the same standard. “If someone is wrongly jailed and later acquitted, how many years in prison should the minister face who falsely implicated them?” he asked.

He also used the moment to contrast his jail-time governance with the current state of affairs in Delhi under the BJP-led administration helmed by Rekha Gupta. “At least when I was in jail, there were no power cuts, water was available, hospitals and mohalla clinics were functioning with free medicines and tests, and private schools were kept in check,” Kejriwal said.

His party, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), also hit out at the BJP, calling the bill and Shah’s comments part of a larger attempt to destabilize elected governments.

AAP’s national media in-charge Anurag Dhanda said, “This amendment is just a licence to topple governments. It’s now clear that the BJP framed Kejriwal in false cases to bring down the AAP government in Delhi.” He pointed to the current deterioration in public services under the new administration and cited the case of AAP leader Satyendar Jain, who was jailed but later had charges dropped due to lack of evidence.

Meanwhile, the BJP stood its ground, defending the proposed constitutional change and calling out the Opposition for blocking efforts to “bring morality into politics.” A party spokesperson described critics of the bill as “friends of corruption” and accused them of protecting tainted leaders.

The political war of words is likely to intensify as Parliament prepares to debate the Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill in the coming days.