“BJP wants to arrest me”: Arvind Kejriwal after skipping the ED’s summons

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday alleged that the Enforcement Directorate issued summons so that he cannot campaign ahead of the all-important 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Amidst speculations of Kejriwal’s arrest by the ED in connection to the alleged Delhi Liquor Policy case, Kejriwal has hit out at the BJP government and called the summons “opaque” and “politically motivated.”

“BJP wants to arrest me. My greatest asset is my honesty. These people want to hurt my honesty through fake cases. We will not bow down to this hooliganism and dictatorship of the BJP. Every drop of mine is dedicated to the country. We are honest and will continue to fight this injustice of BJP with all our might,” posted Delhi CM along with a video asserting that he will “fight this injustice”.

Kejriwal reiterating his position, questioned yet again if the investigation in the past two years has landed the agency “to even a single paisa.” "You must have heard about the liquor policy scam several times in the past two years. In these two years, all of the BJP's agencies have carried out several raids and arrested several people, but they haven't been able to find corruption amounting to even a single paisa. If there has actually been corruption, where have all the crores gone? Has all the money vanished into thin air,” questioned Kejriwal     

The Delhi Chief Minister was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate three times, first on November 2, followed by December 23, and lastly on January 3, all of which were in connection to the same alleged Delhi Liquor Policy Scam. The Chief Minister stated that these summons were “illegal.” “They have jailed several AAP leaders in this fictitious case. There is no evidence against anyone and nothing is being proven...” said Kejriwal.

Arvind Kejriwal in response to the summon, has officially stated that Rajya Sabha elections, Republic Day celebrations, and the Agency’s ‘non-disclosure’ approach as reasons for not appearing before the ED.  

BJP quickly hit out, calling the Delhi CM “staunchly corrupt.” “Outright dishonest and sinister Arvind Kejriwal is shaking in fear and making one lame excuse after another to skip ED summons..It won't be wrong to say that Kejriwal is afraid today because he knows that his arrest is imminent, he is aware that he is the kingpin and has no answers. That's why he is trying to evade the process of law," said BJP National Spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia.

Previously, Deputy CM of the Kejriwal government Manish Sisodia, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, and AAP leader Vijay Nair were arrested by the Enforcement Directorate concerning the alleged Delhi Exercise Policy Scam.