Claiming that Modi government was trying to finish it off by putting its top leaders behind bars, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday claimed there are apprehensions that the Enforcement Directorate will arrest Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on November 2 after questioning him in a money laundering case linked to the alleged excise policy scam. Kejriwal has been issued the summons under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and according to sources, the ED will record his statement once he deposes at the probe agency's Delhi office at 11 am on November 2. This is the first time that Kejriwal has been summoned by the ED. He was questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the case in April.
In a series of press conferences the AAP leaders – Delhi Cabinet Ministers Atishi, Gopal Rai, Saurabh Bharadwaj, Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak have claimed the BJP-led central government's "only aim" is to finish the AAP.
Delhi Cabinet Minister Atishi claimed the BJP was using these tactics to target the AAP as it knows that it cannot defeat Kejriwal in elections. "There are reports that Kejriwal will be arrested on November 2. If he is arrested, it won't be because of corruption (charges) but because he has spoken against the BJP," she said.
"The AAP defeated the BJP in Delhi Assembly polls twice and also in MCD polls. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scared of AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal. The BJP knows they cannot defeat the AAP in elections."
Referring to the arrest of the AAP's top leadership, including Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh and Satyendar Jain, Atishi claimed it only means that the BJP wants to finish off the AAP. Satyendar Jain has been granted bail in a money laundering case.
"After Kejriwal is arrested, the BJP will target other leaders of the INDIA alliance and its chief ministers using the CBI and ED. "Next they will target Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren since they have been unable to defeat him. Then they will target Tejashwi Yadav since they have not been able to break the alliance in Bihar. Then Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin will be targeted," she claimed.
Atishi reiterated that AAP leaders are not scared of going to jail and will keep fighting to save the Constitution till their last breath. AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj echoed Atishi's views and asserted that the party has only grown stronger in the face of opposition.
"The BJP is trying to put Arvind Kejriwal and other top leaders of the AAP behind bars. Whenever attempts have been made to suppress and finish off the Aam Aadmi Party, it has only emerged stronger," he said.
The AAP's Delhi state convener Gopal Rai also addressed a press conference and said that the party will keep working for the common man. "There have been attacks in the past too and we have only grown stronger. They want to arrest Arvind Kejriwal since they want to finish off the Aam Aadmi Party. They tried to break AAP MLAs by lodging more than 170 cases against them but failed. The AAP is not working for itself but for the common man," he asserted.
Rai said, “If that were not the case, there wouldn't have been raids on the CM's Office (CMO) in 2014 just after Narendra Modi Ji became the PM, and the Shunglu Committee wouldn't have scrutinized each file. We wouldn't have more than 170 cases against AAP to defect our MLAs. Back then, there was no alcohol policy.”
“BJP was also proud of being the largest party in the world. Still, in the 2020 legislative assembly elections, BJP only managed to get 8 seats. The people of Delhi gave 62 out of 70 seats to the AAP, electing Arvind Kejriwal as their CM once again. Delhi's people bid farewell to the BJP even from the Delhi Municipal Corporation, so the BJP used all kinds of tricks. In March 2022, the term of the MCD was ending,” he added. AAP MLA Dilip Pandey said they are disciples of Bhagat Singh and are ready to sacrifice their lives but will not bow before the BJP.
