The authorities have significantly bolstered security measures outside Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) headquarters in Delhi ahead of their protest against the arrest of the party chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Delhi Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj on Saturday said that the coordination between national agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation shows that the Central Government wants to ensure that Arvind Kejriwal stays in jail.
“The coordination between ED and CBI shows that Central Government wants to ensure that Arvind Kejriwal stays in jail…We will raise our voice against it in the whole nation,” he said.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday announced that it would hold a nationwide protest against the arrest of Kejriwal.
A decision in this regard was taken at a meeting at the party headquarters led by AAP’s National General Secretary (Organisation) Sandeep Pathak. The meeting was attended by other top AAP leaders, including MPs, MLAs, and councillors.
The meeting detailed the alleged misuse of central investigative agencies by the BJP government to target CM Kejriwal. Sandeep Pathak announced that AAP workers will hold a massive protest to oppose the BJP’s tactics and the arrest of their leader.
AAP National General Secretary (Organisation) Sandeep Pathak said that “the BJP’s central government is misusing all the central investigation agencies for its political vendetta. The CBI did not make CM Arvind Kejriwal an accused in the so-called liquor case for the last two years. But when the BJP felt that CM Arvind Kejriwal was going to get bail from the Supreme Court, they brought the CBI forward. Their aim is not to investigate any case nor do they have anything to do with the law. The BJP wants to keep Arvind Kejriwal in jail by any means, keep him away from elections and finish the AAP. Therefore, the BJP is misusing central institutions to meet its political objectives.”
The AAP National General Secretary (Organisation) further added, “All AAP leaders expressed confidence that the entire public of Delhi is with CM Arvind Kejriwal and we all will fight this battle against injustice along with the people of Delhi.”
The AAP says that the trial court granted bail to CM Arvind Kejriwal in the liquor case. The very next day, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) went to the High Court and got a stay on Arvind Kejriwal’s bail. The stay on bail by the High Court in this case was about to be lifted when the CBI woke up from a deep sleep of two years and arrested CM Arvind Kejriwal, the party alleged.
Earlier, the CBI had called the AAP Supremo for questioning as a witness for the first time on April 16, 2023. At that time, it did not make him an accused for 14 months.
The AAP says that the CBI has no evidence. It is just talking nonsense. CM Arvind Kejriwal has been implicated in a false and baseless case at the behest of the BJP government at the Centre, the AAP alleged.