Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday alleged that the BJP-led central government wanted to arrest him to stop him from campaigning for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
Addressing a press conference here, he accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of wanting to tarnish his image and asserted that his honesty is his "biggest asset".
Kejriwal, who is also the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener, had skipped the Enforcement Directorate summons on Wednesday for the third time.
"My lawyers have told me that the ED summons are illegal. BJP wants to arrest me to stop me from campaigning for Lok Sabha polls," he alleged.
Kejriwal said that he has written to the ED, saying their summonses are "illegal" but has not got any response.
"They haven't replied because they know that their summonses are illegal. Should I follow illegal summons? If legally sound summons will be issued, I will follow them. My greatest wealth is my honesty. They want to break me by tarnishing my image," he said.
Kejriwal said that eight months ago when he was called by the Central Bureau of Investigation, he had appeared before the agency.
"Why am I being summoned before Lok Sabha polls? It is because the BJP does not want to get me interrogated but arrested by the ED," he claimed.
The chief minister underlined that there is no excise policy scam as it is being alleged and there is no evidence against any of the AAP leaders who are in jail.
"Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh and Vijay Nair are not in jail because they were involved in corruption but because they did not join the BJP. We are able to fight them because we have not been involved in corruption," he said.
Kejriwal on Wednesday skipped the summons by the ED in connection with the Delhi excise policy case and cited Rajya Sabha polls, Republic Day preparations and the probe agency's "non-disclosure and non-response approach" as reasons for not appearing before it.
In a letter addressed to the ED, the AAP leader also said that he would be "happy to answer" any questionnaire sent by it.
