Nothing to hide from agencies, says Kejriwal

Arvind Kejriwal alleged that whenever the BJP realises that it is losing, it unleashes all the central agencies on its opponents.

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. File image.

Ahead of elections in Punjab, the Central Government is putting pressure on the Enforcement Directorate to arrest Delhi Cabinet Minister Satyendar Jain. This is an old trick of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), when it realises it will lose elections, said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday. Mr. Kejriwal said that he and his party colleagues will welcome Central Government agencies coming to prey on them with open arms as they have nothing to hide and previous attempts at conducting raids have not yielded any results.

“Five states await the change of government this time around and the BJP has now turned towards the agencies at the disposal of its Central Government to attack the opposition. We have gotten to know through our sources that the BJP government is forcing the Enforcement Directorate to arrest Mr. Jain before the Punjab Elections by framing him in false and imaginary charges so they can hurt AAP’s electoral frays,” Mr. Kejriwal said.

In a press statement, the Chief Minister said that the AAP was unfazed by such political tactics used by the BJP. “The Central government has conducted malicious raids against Mr. Jain twice in the past and couldn’t find even a pennyworth’s mistake back then. What will happen with Mr. Jain? They’ll send him to jail, he’ll come out on bail after 5-10 days. They won’t have a single proof for the courts to see. We don’t fear probes, we don’t fear jails. We are standing here, undeterred and unfazed,” Mr. Kejriwal added.

Talking about the recent probes on the nephew of Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, Mr. Kejriwal said that AAP leaders will not make a huge spectacle of the raids like Mr. Channi who got flustered.

Reacting to Mr. Kejriwal’s statement, Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri called the statement ridiculous and termed it as a political ploy. “Mr. Kejriwal is now feeling his defeat in the various State elections and is now trying to play the same sympathy card as he does every time. He always has been trying to fool the public by showing his helplessness. It seems that when no issue of his has worked, he has now resorted to political maneuvering,” Mr. Bidhuri said.