New Delhi: Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) announced Monday that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal would continue to run the capital’s government even if it was from jail.
Kejriwal held a meeting with all party MLAs at the Delhi assembly Monday evening as he prepares to face a fresh summons by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning in the excise policy case.
After the meeting, Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj told the media that the BJP had “maximum problems” with the AAP. “There are many cases against AAP MLAs, against its ministers… And now they are trying to arrest Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. This makes it clear that the BJP is afraid of him, and they want to remove him from power,” Bharadwaj said.
Bharadwaj asserted that all MLAs felt Kejriwal was being put under tremendous pressure. “They think the Delhi government will not run if Kejriwal is arrested. They think Kejriwal will then be forced to resign. All MLAs told him today that is precisely what the BJP wants,” Bharadwaj said. He added: “Come what may… whether it is from land, from the sky, from hell, from jail, from police or judicial custody… Arvind Kejriwal will run the Delhi government, because the people’s mandate is with him.”
VIDEO | “Each and every MLA has requested Arvind Kejriwal that the BJP wants you (referring to Delhi CM) to resign, but only Arvind Kejriwal will run the Delhi government, whether from jail, or police custody, or judicial custody,” says Delhi minister @Saurabh_MLAgk. pic.twitter.com/jbT0aaAIRD
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 6, 2023
The AAP’s meeting comes a few days after the Delhi chief minister skipped an ED summons, writing to the probe agency that its action was “illegal and politically motivated” and aimed at preventing him from campaigning in poll-bound states.
It was also “vague, motivated and unsustainable in law”, Kejriwal had alleged, saying the ED notice was sent to him at the behest of the BJP.
The agency had summoned Kejriwal at 11 am on 2 November for questioning and to record his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the liquor policy case.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the ED have alleged that the Delhi government’s 2021-22 excise policy granted licences to liquor traders to facilitate cartelisation and favoured certain dealers who had allegedly paid bribes, a charge the AAP has repeatedly denied.
The policy was subsequently scrapped and the Delhi lieutenant governor recommended a CBI probe, following which the ED registered a case under the PMLA.
Kejriwal’s party colleagues Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh are already in judicial custody in the alleged scam.
In his letter to the ED, Kejriwal wrote that it was not clear in the summons whether he was being called as a witness or a suspect. He termed it a “fishing and roving” exercise by the ED.
Kejriwal also accused the ED of leaking the summons to select BJP leaders “to malign my image and reputation”. He claimed that BJP MP Manoj Tiwari had “openly” said on the afternoon of 30 October — the day summons were issued to Kejriwal — that the chief minister would be arrested.
The ED is now expected to issue fresh summons to Kejriwal, more so since the prosecution has assured the Supreme Court it will wrap up the trial within six to eight months.