A day after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided the premises of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Amanatullah Khan in Delhi in connection with a money-laundering case, the party’s national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal charged Prime Minister Narendra Modi with trying to “crush and finish AAP”. The ED’s raid on Mr. Khan’s residence was an attempt in his direction, the CM said while speaking to reporters after meeting the MLA at his residence.
‘Not a victim’
Rubbishing the CM’s claim, Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva said Mr. Kejriwal and his party were “mired in corruption” and that the Delhi CM’s claim about the Centre victimising AAP MLAs and Ministers was not true.
“It is shocking to see Arvind Kejriwal claiming to be a victim, even as over 10 of his MLAs are facing grave charges,” the BJP leader said.
Meanwhile, the ED, in a statement on Wednesday, alleged that Mr. Khan, the AAP MLA from Okhla, had acquired “huge proceeds of crime” in the form of cash from illegal recruitment in the Delhi Waqf Board and invested it in purchasing immovable assets in the name of his associates.
The agency had on Tuesday raided 13 locations in the national capital linked to the legislator and persons associated with him after taking cognisance of the FIRs filed by the Delhi Anti Corruption Bureau and the Central Bureau of Investigation against Mr. Khan, who is also the chairman of the Delhi Waqf Board, for illegal appointments and unauthorised renting out of Waqf properties in the city.
‘Old pattern’
The CM said Mr. Modi had “directed” Central investigating agencies to conduct raids at the residence of AAP leaders earlier as well.
“In 2016, the Centre constituted the Shunglu Committee. It asked for 400 files, which were inspected by senior officials thoroughly. Yet, it did not find corruption worth a single penny,” Mr. Kejriwal said.
“After this, Modijistarted implicating AAP MLAs in fabricated cases. So far, 170 cases have been filed against AAP MLAs, and judgments have been pronounced in 140 of them, all of which have gone against the Centre,” he said.
The judgements, he added, have unequivocally termed the cases “fabricated”.
The AAP chief said that probe agencies under the BJP-led Centre have been arresting senior AAP leaders and Ministers over the past two years.
“Last week, the Supreme Court asked for evidence against [senior AAP leader and former Delhi Minister] Manish Sisodia. They [probe agencies] had nothing against him,” the CM said.
“They just claim that Kejriwal has committed ‘road scam, electricity scam, water scam’. They conducted so many raids in the name of these ‘scams’. Had they found corruption worth a penny, would they have spared Arvind Kejriwal?” he said.
Published - October 12, 2023 01:05 am IST
