Referring to the summons that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal received from the Enforcement Directorate in the Delhi liquor policy case, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) declared on Monday that if he is arrested in the upcoming days, he will lead the Delhi government from behind bars.
Following Kejriwal’s summons for interrogation in a money laundering case connected to the now-canceled Delhi spirits programme, the AAP claimed that the Modi government was engaged in a “conspiracy” to jail Kejriwal.
Speaking with reporters regarding the AAP MLAs and Kejriwal meeting, Delhi minister Atishi stated that all of the legislators advised the Chief Minister to stay in his position in spite of the ED summons.
“We told him not to resign as Delhi people have voted for Kejriwal. Even if he goes to jail, Arvind Kejriwal will continue to be the chief minister of Delhi,” Atishi said, adding that AAP will ask the court for permission to conduct cabinet meetings in jail.
“The Delhi government will run from jail,” she said.
Atishi and Saurabh Bhardwaj announced that Arvind Kejriwal would shortly meet with party council members as well.
On November 2, the ED had summoned Kejriwal to testify in the money laundering case related to the purported liquor policy fraud.
However, sources claim that the AAP leader ignored the financial watchdog’s summons, claiming that it was “illegal and politically motivated”. He had also claimed that the BJP had requested the summons be sent.
The ED had called Kejriwal in connection with the same case that had led to the apprehension of AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh on October 4 and his erstwhile deputy, Manish Sisodia, in February of this year.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) interrogated Kejriwal for about nine hours in April regarding a corruption case connected to the Delhi liquor policy.
As part of the BJP’s plot to target important INDIA bloc leaders before of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Kejriwal’s party claimed on November 1 that the chief minister of Delhi will be the first to be jailed.
The ED and the CBI are looking into the Delhi government’s now-cancelled excise scheme for 2021–2022, which is suspected of favouring some alcohol traffickers. The central investigative agencies said that the approach led to cartelization and that people who were not eligible for liquor licences were given financial advantages.
Kejriwal and his party, however, have refuted the accusations and maintained that the new policy would have increased income sharing.
