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Didn't I go to CBI? BJP only wants to stop me from campaigning in Lok Sabha elections: Kejriwal
Arvind Kejriwal said had he and his party members done any corruption, they would have joined the BJP by now to get a clean chit.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday issued a video message amid intense speculation that he would be arrested in connection with the alleged liquor scam. “For the last two years, you have heard the words sharab ghotala several times. There have been multiple raids in connection. Agencies didn't find a single rupee. Where did the money go? Did it just vanish in the air? The truth is there has been no corruption,” Kejriwal said in a video message, a day after skipping the third summons of the Enforcement Directorate.
“Many AAP leaders have been falsely implicated in this connection and they are languishing in jail while there is no evidence against them. Now the BJP wants to arrest me. My biggest strength is my honesty. They want to defame me, hurt my image by false accusations,” Kejriwal said.
Speaking on the summons, Kejriwal said his lawyers told him that the summonses were illegal. "I wrote in detail why their summonses were illegal. But they did not reply because they had no reply. Should I follow illegal summonses? I will cooperate if a legal summons is sent to me," Kejriwal said.
"The BJP has nothing to investigate. They just want to stop me from campaigning in the Lok Sabha election. Otherwise, why would they summon me just ahead of the elections? The investigation has been going on for two years. The CBI called me eight months ago. Didn't I attend that? I provided all answers to whatever the CBI asked. But they just want to arrest me on the pretext of summoning me," Kejriwal added.
"ED is calling me just two months before the election which proves that they have no investigation in mind. The BJP is using ED and CBI to poach leaders from other parties. There is more than one instance of how leaders who join the BJP immediately get a clean chit. Today Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain and Sanjay Singh are in jail not because they indulged in corruption, but because they refused to join the BJP. Had we done something wrong, we would have joined the BJP by now," Kejriwal said.
Kejriwal arrest row: Here is what happened since yesterday
1. Kejriwal was summoned by the ED on January 3 for the third time. Kejriwal rejected the summons and said he was busy with Republic Day and Rajya Sabha election preparations.
2. Kejriwal said he can answer a questionnaire if the agency sends one. The chief minister mentioned that the agency did not clarify whether Kejriwal was being called as a witness or as an accused.
3. Delhi ministers Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj on Wednesday night tweeted that they had information that Kejriwal would be arrested by the ED on Thursday morning.
4. The tweets by the ministers triggered a major drama in front of Kejriwal's residence at Civil Lines in the morning.
5. AAP leaders claimed all roads leading to Kejriwal's residence were blocked while police said the deployment was to manage the presence of the media personnel.
6. The ED, meanwhile, rejected the rumours of any raid at Kejriwal's house. Reports said the agency was preparing to send a 4th summons to the chief minister, examining his reply.
7. AAP said Kejriwal would leave for Gujarat on January 6 for a three-day tour.
