The AAP on Tuesday claimed there are apprehensions that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) 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.
The ruling party in Delhi also alleged that the BJP was trying to finish it off by putting its top leaders behind bars.
Kejriwal summoned by ED
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 (CBI) in the case in April.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, 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.
'PM Modi afraid of Kejriwal'
"According to various sources, the ED will also arrest Arvind Kejriwal and put him in jail on November 2. Today, the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi want to eliminate the Aam Aadmi Party. This is why, one after another, AAP leaders are being arrested in false cases and sent to jail," she said.
Atishi said Kejriwal will be arrested not because there is any case or evidence against him but because he has spoken out against the BJP.
"He will be arrested only because Prime Minister Modi is afraid of him. They know that if there is one leader in this country who openly speaks against the BJP and fights against the party, it is Arvind Kejriwal. Since Narendra Modi became Prime Minister in 2014, he has been most troubled by one person and that is Arvind Kejriwal," she said.
In 2015, the BJP had been winning one state election after another but Kejriwal managed to confine the BJP to just three seats in Delhi, while the AAP won 67 of the 70 seats, she said.
Delhi's love for Kejriwal
In 2020 again, Atishi said, the BJP put all its efforts into the Delhi elections, fielding its leaders and creating a charged atmosphere across the country.
"However, the people of Delhi showed their love for their son Arvind Kejriwal and made him the chief minister of Delhi once more.
"When the MCD elections came, the BJP knew that the people of Delhi would elect Arvind Kejriwal and throw the BJP out of the MCD. They delayed the MCD elections, imposed restrictions and conducted elections along with the Gujarat elections. However, despite all this, the people of Delhi still elected Arvind Kejriwal in the MCD elections," she said.
BJP wants to 'finish off the AAP'
Referring to the arrest of the AAP's top leaders, including Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh and Satyendar Jain, Atishi claimed it only means that the BJP wants to "finish off the AAP".
Jain has been granted interim 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 the 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," Atishi claimed.
"I want to tell Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party are not afraid of going to jail nor are they afraid of false cases. They will fight till the last breath to protect the Constitution of this country," she said.
