Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s decision to skip the Enforcement Directorate’s summons for the third time for questioning in a Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case has raised eyebrows in political circles. His party, however, says while the AAP chief is ready to cooperate with the probe, the agency’s notice is “illegal”.
Amid the back-and-forth, News18 caught up with Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj who said the party was not looking for a certificate from the BJP.
Edited Excerpts:
It was a ‘no show’ for Kejriwal for the third successive time. Why is the chief minister not appearing before the ED? Does it not give rise to speculation that he has something to hide and is afraid of being arrested?
I just want to ask the BJP that when Manish Sisodia appeared before the ED and CBI whenever he was asked to appear and Sanjay Singh complied with the directions of the agencies, were they certified by BJP as being the best citizens of the country?
We are not here to get a certificate from BJP’s spokesperson. We are here for our rights. This is a political conspiracy. Everybody in India can see through this. The only game plan is to arrest Kejriwal just before Lok Sabha elections. Because when Kejriwal goes out and campaigns against the BJP, it is going to harm them electorally.
So the plan is to arrest him. For the last one-and-a-half years, there have been investigations by the top agencies of the country. They have probed and questioned thousands of people but found nothing.
Even Manish Sisodia, who is behind bars for the past one-and-a-half years, will be acquitted. They also know it. The only thing is that they think that now there is a case so let’s arrest Kejriwal.
Kejriwal asked the agency why he was being summoned. Is he an accused or a witness? The agency has not replied, which gives rise to the apprehension that the plan is to arrest him.
Since Kejriwal has skipped the notice for the third time, will it not increase the risk of his arrest? Will it not weaken the AAP chief’s case in the court of law if and when it goes there? The prosecution will say ‘you are not cooperating with the agencies’. It is not just the BJP, even legally speaking, are you not weakening your case?
Is Manish Sisodia’s case strong enough to get bail? Is Manish Sisodia’s support to the agencies or cooperation with the agencies helping him? Has court ever said that yes, Sisodia has cooperated with the agencies so let there be bail? There is no flight risk. He is not running away from the country. He does not have any criminal cases. He is not a gangster. He is not part of any organised war against the nation. Then give bail to Manish Sisodia. Has it happened?
Practically, today the country is being run by political conspiracies. Several people who have joined BJP have cases against them — Himanta Biswa Sarma, Mukul Roy, Suvendu Adhikari, Chaggan Bhujbal, Praful Patel, Ajit Pawar, Pema Khandu, and Narayan Rane. There were so many against whom BJP ran a campaign. After they joined BJP, we do not see any newspaper coming up with a story that Bhujbal has been called or Sarma is facing an enquiry. There is no law. There is no technicality. It is all political conspiracy.
There is a similar story now unfolding in Jharkhand where Hemant Soren has skipped summons and now raids are on in various parts. Do you see that happening here when it comes to Kejriwal?
It keeps happening every day. Yesterday, there were raids in Delhi. There were raids in Punjab. During elections, there were raids in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. Now you don’t hear about it because there are no elections. So, whenever there are elections, whenever it politically suits the BJP, the central government will unleash the agencies against their political opponents.
So, what next for the AAP? For how long will Kejriwal fend off the ED?
It’s about us contesting Lok Sabha elections. We will contest the polls. We will give a hard time to the BJP. We will be a challenger to the BJP. We are preparing for it.
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