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Arvind Kejriwal skips ED summons; AAP, BJP hold parallel stirs
The ED has alleged that the AAP received kickbacks for finalising the scrapped excise policy and used the money in its Goa election campaign.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday skipped the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) fifth summons for questioning in a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the scrapped excise policy 2021-22 and, instead, led a protest by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders near BJP headquarters where he hit out at the ruling party at the Centre over alleged rigging of the Chandigarh mayoral polls.
The Delhi BJP held a counter-protest against the alleged scams of the Delhi government at another part of Deen Dayal Upadhyay (DDU) Marg, prompting the police to shut the busy thoroughfare, which led to heavy traffic congestion on connecting roads such as Vikas Marg, IP Marg, Minto Road, and JLN Marg.
In a statement, an AAP official claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to arrest Kejriwal and topple his government but that the party would never let that happen. It dismissed the ED summons as illegal. The AAP maintained that Kejriwal would honour “legally sound summons”.
Read here: Arvind Kejriwal running away from probe: BJP as it stages counter protest
On the heavily barricaded DDU Marg, which turned into a fortress with hundreds of security personnel deployed along with water cannons, Kejriwal and his Punjab counterpart, Bhagwant Mann, joined the protest. The protesting CMs could not reach the BJP headquarters, located a few hundred metres from the AAP office on DDU Marg, due to barricading and heavy police presence.
The protesting leaders were confined to a patch of DDU Marg blocked from both sides with barricades while two police officers stood atop a water cannon monitoring the protest unfolding outside the AAP office. Delhi AAP convener Gopal Rai said in order to thwart the protest, the BJP deployed so many police personnel on the ground that it appeared that the police, and not the AAP, were protesting.
The AAP called the protest to save the country from what it called, the “theft of votes” after alleged electoral malpractices in the recently concluded Chandigarh mayoral polls won by the BJP, a verdict that the former has challenged in court.
Kejriwal egged people on to shout slogans against the BJP.
“If they (BJP) can tamper with votes in a small election, then they can go to any extent in big elections. They (BJP) can even sell the country for power but we will not let that happen. We have to save democracy and the country,” Kejriwal said addressing the protesters.
In his 10-minute speech, Kejriwal did not mention the ED summons.
Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said: “Arvind Kejriwal evading questioning by the ED is a testimony to the fact that he has been involved in the excise scam, and now he is behaving like an offender.”
Leader of the opposition in the Delhi assembly, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, said, “The AAP government has perpetrated many scams and the way former deputy CM Manish Sisodia and former minister Satyendra Jain are in jail, soon Kejriwal will also go to jail.”
Punjab CM Mann said the alleged electoral malpractices prompted the AAP to hold the protest.
“If somehow they (BJP) manage to come to power in 2024, they will not conduct any more elections,” Mann said, adding that people will rise up to fight the BJP’s high-handedness.
Ahead of the protest, Kejriwal claimed that police were stopping AAP lawmakers and workers from reaching the protest side. In a post on X on Friday, he said: “First votes were stolen in the Chandigarh mayoral elections. Now, people coming to protest peacefully against this are being stopped at various places across Delhi.”
A Delhi Police officer said they had not permitted any demonstration by the political parties in DDU Marg.
“The police did not give permission to either the AAP or the BJP for the demonstration; DDU Marg was shut for traffic and police presence was beefed up in and around the area for security purposes,” the officer said.
The AAP has maintained the summons to Kejriwal were illegal and politically motivated because they do not explain whether he is being called as a witness or an accused.
The Delhi government’s 2021-22 excise policy aimed to replace a sales volume-based regime with a licence fee-based one for traders to revitalise the flagging liquor business. It promised swankier stores and a better buying experience. The policy introduced discounts and offers on the purchase of liquor for the first time in Delhi.
The policy was scrapped when lieutenant governor VK Saxena recommended a probe into alleged irregularities in the regime. The AAP alleged that Saxena’s predecessor sabotaged the policy with a few last-minute changes that resulted in lower-than-expected revenues.
The ED has alleged that the AAP received kickbacks of ₹100 crore to finalise the policy and that some of this money was used in its Goa election campaign. The agency has arrested AAP leaders Sisodia and Sanjay Singh in connection with the case.
The AAP has been seeking public feedback on whether Kejriwal should step down as chief minister if arrested.
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