Few chief ministers not allowed to take mobile phones at Inter-State meet: Arvind Kejriwal

NEW DELHI: Arvind Kejriwal today alleged that a few Chief Ministers, including him, were not allowed to carry mobile phones to the the Inter-State Council meet and that he raised the issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi wondering whether they posed a "security threat".

Kejriwal said some of the Chief Ministers were allowed to take their phones inside the meeting venue.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who was among those who were barred, objected to the move, and she was not allowed to speak while his speech faced "interferences", the AAP chief said.

"They made few a Chief Ministers, including me, to leave our phones outside. It was very strange. They kept phones of few Chief Ministers outside while few were allowed to take their phones inside. I raised the issue in my speech as well. I asked the Prime Minister whether few Chief Ministers pose security threats to him," Kejriwal said.

He was speaking at the launch of a book 'Arvind Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party', authored by Pran Kurup, his IIT Kharagpur batchmate, at the Constitution Club here.

"In fact, Mamataji protested. She said return (the phone) otherwise I will leave. She asked what if there is an emergency in West Bengal, how will people contact her then? Then they allowed her to take her phone inside. But they did not let Mamataji speak. I also had to face a lot of interferences," Kejriwal said.

Kejriwal wondered why they were invited in the first place if the Centre "does not want to listen to the voice of the opposition".

"Others did not protest (for not being allowed to carry their cell phones inside), maybe because they are under the threat of CBI.

The Inter-State Council meeting had taken place on Saturday last after a gap of 10 years.