Delhi Excise Policy Case: ED May Arrest Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal On November 2, Says Delhi Minister Atishi

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal for questioning in the Delhi Excise Policy case on November 2.

Outlook Web Desk

Updated on: 31 October 2023 10:13 am

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal

Delhi minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Atishi on Tuesday said that the Enforcement Directorate may arrest Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal on November 2.

The ED has summoned Kejriwal for questioning on November 2 in a moneylaundering case related to the alleged Delhi Excise Policy scam. It is alleged that there were irregularities in the drafting and the implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy 2021.

While Kejriwal has now been called for questioning, former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, who held the excise portfolio in Kejriwal's Cabinet at the time of the alleged scam, is in jail since February.

Atishi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are scared of AAP and Kejriwal and that's why the arrest could be made.

"Today, PM Modi and BJP are trying to finish off AAP. Everywhere, the news is that AAP convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal would be arrested on November 2. The arrest would be made because Modi Ji is afraid of Arvind Kejriwal. He knows that if there is any popular leader who speaks freely speaks against Modi Ji, it is Arvind Kejriwal," said Atishi.

आज प्रधानमंत्री मोदी और भाजपा AAP को ख़त्म करने पर तुली है।

हर तरफ़ से खबर है कि 2 नवंबर को AAP संयोजक और दिल्ली के मुख्यमंत्री @ArvindKejriwal को गिरफ़्तार किया जाएगा।

ये गिरफ़्तारी इसलिए होगी, क्योंकि मोदी जी को @ArvindKejriwal से डर लगता है।

उन्हें पता है कि कोई लोकप्रिय… pic.twitter.com/rCFQ0Y6XRO
— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) October 31, 2023

Atishi also said that the Modi government would not stop at Kejriwal. After Kejriwal, she said the BJP government would go after other leaders of the INIDA alliance of Opposition parties.

"The trend of misusing CBI and ED would not end with Arvind Kejriwal. After this, they would go after INDIA alliance leaders wherever the BJP cannot win: Hemant Soren, Tejshwi Yadav, Pinarayi Vijayan, Stalin. This is a conspiracy to finish democracy in India, but I want to tell Modi Ji that we will fight till our last breathe," said Atishi at a press conference in Hindi.

While the ED is pursuing the moneylaundering angle in the Delhi Excise Policy case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is looking into the criminal angle. It has been alleged that bribes and commissions were also taken during the drafting and implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22. Besides Sisodia, who is already under arrest, a number of businesspersons and associated political figures have also been questioned in the case.