Leaders being framed in false cases to finish AAP: Atishi

Delhi minister Atishi said the news is that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) will arrest chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, whom the agency has asked to appear before it on Thursday

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday said its leaders were being framed in false cases in an “attempt to finish” it even as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) denied any witch-hunt and insisted Delhi’s ruling party had brought the troubles upon itself through its now-scrapped excise policy.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. (HT PHOTO)

Delhi minister Atishi said the news is that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) will arrest chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, whom the agency has asked to appear before it on Thursday in connection with the money laundering probe in the case. The ED has called the policy Kejriwal’s brainchild in one of its five chargesheets.

The summons to Kejriwal were issued even as the Supreme Court on Monday refused bail to former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in connection with allegations of financial irregularities in the policy. The court found at least one charge of windfall gains of ₹338 crore made by wholesalers was tentatively established but punched holes in the arguments and evidence presented while ordering the trial be completed in six to eight months. It allowed Sisodia to seek bail again in three months if the proceedings drag on at a snail’s pace.

The order prompted the BJP to demand Kejriwal’s resignation even as the AAP said it would consider seeking a review.

Atishi said AAP leaders were being framed in fake cases and arrested one after the other as the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi wanted to finish AAP.

BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad rubbished claims that the Union government wanted to finish AAP, questioning why the party brought the flawed policy and scrapped it. “Did the [Union] government ask them to make money for the Goa elections from the commission earned from the sale of liquor?” he asked.

He referred to the process involved in drafting the policy and added such a scam could not have taken place without Kejriwal’s approval. “The GoM [group of ministers] headed by Sisodia was formed to formulate a new excise policy. A middleman was used to negotiate with a party from a southern state. When questions were raised about the middleman, Kejriwal said he is my man…”

Prasad maintained there was both direct and circumstantial evidence in the case. He questioned why was the policy scrapped if there was no irregularity. “The BJP has nothing to do with the scam. It is wholly the corruption of the party [AAP], the CM [chief minister], and his associates.”

Atishi said attempts to finish AAP began in 2015 when Kejriwal defeated the BJP in Delhi for the first time. “...[In] the 2020 elections, Kejriwal swept the Delhi assembly polls...then won the [2022] MCD [Municipal Corporation of Delhi] elections despite the BJP’s attempts to delay the elections. They know that they cannot beat Kejriwal. This is why they are putting [AAP] leaders in jail.”

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in April questioned Kejriwal for around nine hours in the case. Sisodia and lawmaker Sanjay Singh are in jail in connection with the case. Satyendar Jain, another AAP leader, was also arrested.

Atishi said the BJP will not stop “misusing CBI and ED” after they arrest Kejriwal. “After his arrest, other Opposition leaders...will be arrested. Next in line will be [chief minister] Hemant Soren...the BJP cannot beat him in Jharkhand. Then, they will go for [deputy chief minister] Tejashwi Yadav because the BJP cannot beat RJD [Rashtriya Janata Dal] and Nitish Kumar’s alliance [in Bihar].”

She added the BJP cannot also win in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. “One after the other, they want to arrest Opposition leaders...This is an attempt to end democracy...”

Atishi said AAP leaders were not afraid of going to jail and would fight until their last breath to save democracy.