The Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday claimed there are apprehensions that the Enforcement Directorate 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 has been issued the summons under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and according to the 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 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.
"There are reports that Kejriwal will be arrested on November 2. If he is arrested, it won't be because of corruption (charges) but because he has spoken against the BJP," she said.
"The AAP defeated the BJP in Delhi Assembly polls twice and also in MCD polls. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scared of AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal. The BJP knows they cannot defeat the AAP in elections." Referring to the arrest of the AAP's top leadership, including Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh and Satyendar Jain, Atishi claimed it only means that the BJP wants to finish off the AAP.
Satyendar Jain has been granted 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 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," she claimed.
Atishi reiterated that AAP leaders are not scared of going to jail and will keep fighting to save the Constitution till their last breath.
Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.
