Centre harassing entire country with CBI, ED: Kejriwal

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government was “harassing the entire country” by subjecting them to raids by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government was “harassing the entire country” by subjecting them to raids by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. (PTI)

Kejriwal’s statement came even as the ED launched search operations at multiple locations across several states in connection with its money laundering probe into the Delhi excise policy 2021-22, in which deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia is named as an accused.

ED is probing if alleged irregularities were done in the formulation and execution of the excise policy and if some alleged proceeds of crime, in terms of tainted money, were generated by the accused.

“Instead of sending CBI-ED everywhere from morning to evening, I believe the central government should do some positive work for the country. How will the country progress if we do not do positive work for it? They have terrified the entire country by talking about CBI-ED for 24 hours. How will such a country develop? If someone does something wrong, catch him. However, the country will not progress if everyone is subjected to CBI-ED raids,” Kejriwal said at a press conference.

“95% of our press conferences are about positive announcements. Around 1,100 students from our government schools have passed the NEET and JEE exams. It is significant that students from Delhi government schools are passing engineering and medical exams. Likewise, the Centre should also do good and positive work,” he added.

Raising questions about the veracity of the excise case, Kejriwal said, “I fail to understand the excise case. A BJP leader said it was a scam of ₹1.5lakh crore, but Delhi has only a ₹70,000 crore budget. Another leader said it was a scam of ₹8,000 crore, another said it was a ₹1,100 crore scam, LG said it was a ₹144 crore scam while the CBI in its FIR said it was a ₹1 crore scam… What is the scam? They carried out raids at Manish Sisodia’s residence in which nothing was found. They searched his locker and also went to his village to find out if Manish had purchased land… but nothing was found.”

BJP reaction awaited