Kejriwal Seeks Trust Vote Amidst Arrest Rumors after ED Summons

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal moved a trust vote in the Assembly on Friday to show his strength amidst rumors of his arrest. The Aam Aadmi Party chief also floated allegations of BJP attempting to poach MLAs and destabilize his government in Delhi. 

Speaker Ram Niwas Goel accepted the motion, and it will be deliberated upon in the Assembly at 11 am on Saturday. 

This comes a day before the Chief Minister's impending court appearance in Delhi regarding his failure to attend ED summons in connection with the excise policy case. The court summoned Kejriwal on February 17 after he skipped 5 Enforcement Directorate summons, underscoring his legal obligation to participate in the Central agency’s probe. 

The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday issued a sixth summon for Kejriwal's appearance on February 19, following his failure to attend questioning despite five previous summons in connection with the alleged liquor scam. 

While moving the motion of confidence, Kejriwal stated that two AAP MLAs who were allegedly approached by members of BJP told him that he would be arrested in the near future. He also said that the Bharatiya Janata Party has been trying to poach his party MLAs to destabilize his government. "The MLAs were told that 21 AAP legislators have agreed to leave the party and more are in touch with the BJP. They offered the MLAs ₹ 25 crore to join the BJP. The MLAs told me they did not accept. When we spoke to other MLAs, we found that they had not contacted 21, but seven. They were trying to carry out another Operation Lotus," said Kejriwal. 

Kejriwal proposed a trust vote saying that the Assembly believes in the Council of Ministers. He mentioned it was important to prove to the people that no AAP MLA could be tempted to leave.

The BJP has termed Kejriwal's accusations as "absurd and baseless." On January 30, Delhi BJP leader Virendra Sachdeva, along with Ramvir Bidhuri and northeast Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari, filed a complaint with Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora requesting an inquiry into the CM's statements.