Pointing at the BJP's ploy of leveraging the federal investigation agency Enforcement Directorate (ED) to coerce the Opposition leaders into joining the saffron camp, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday drew a connection between the ED raids at then TMC MLA Tapas Roy in January and his switching to the BJP weeks later.
What all did Kejriwal say?
Taking it to the microblogging site X (formerly Twitter), Kejriwal said, "This is the truth of ED and Modi government. How people are included in BJP by getting harassed by ED. After getting the ED raid done, the question is asked - where will you go - BJP or jail? Those who refuse to go to BJP, they send them to jail."
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Terming joining the BJP a way to evade legal consequences, Kejriwal further added, "If Satyendar Jain, Manish Sisodia, and Sanjay Singh join BJP today, they will get bail tomorrow itself. It is not that these three have committed any crime, they just refused to join BJP."
“If I join BJP today, I will also stop getting summons from ED…Prime Minister, be afraid of God. It is not the same all the time. And time is very powerful.”
TMC MLA Tapas Roy Joins BJP
Kejriwal's remarks came on the backdrop of former TMC MLA Tapas Roy quitting TMC and joining BJP on Monday.
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Roy's decision to switch allegiance to the BJP raised a few eyebrows since his residence was raided by ED sleuths in January in connection with the alleged irregularities in civic body recruitments.
"I have joined the BJP today, as I want to fight against the misrule and atrocities of the TMC," he said, after being handed over the party flag from BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar and Suvendu Adhikari here.
“I will fight with all my might against the corruption and misrule of TMC. I will work under the leadership of Narendra Modi and follow the directives of the party till my last breath,” he added.
