Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Chief Arvind Kejriwal reacted on Wednesday to the Centre’s decision to grant the Enforcement Directorate (ED) the authority to prosecute him and former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in connection with the alleged liquor scam. Speaking to reporters outside the party office, Kejriwal likened the situation to how the BJP is contesting the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections.
“Woh uss tarah se chunav lad rahe hain, hum is tarah se chunav lad rahe hain,” Kejriwal said when asked about the developments while he was en route to file his nomination for the elections.
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) recently authorized the ED to initiate prosecution against Kejriwal and Sisodia under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), alleging their involvement in a money laundering scheme related to the now-scrapped Delhi liquor policy for 2021-22. The sanction order was issued earlier this month, marking a new chapter in the case.
Both leaders, who were granted bail by the Supreme Court in September and August of the previous year, are facing renewed legal challenges related to the Delhi liquor policy scam. A special PMLA court had previously delayed the framing of charges against Kejriwal after he challenged the trial court’s decision to proceed without the necessary sanction for prosecution under PMLA.
In response to the ongoing developments, BJP candidate Parvesh Verma criticized Kejriwal’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis, accusing him of prioritizing personal interests. “We all know what a big sin Arvind Kejriwal committed. When COVID was spreading globally, people were dying, at that time he was making the liquor policy. When people were asking for medicines and homes, he was building his ‘Sheesh Mahal’. The person elected by the people of Delhi was building his ‘Sheesh Mahal’ but didn’t provide medicines to the people,” Verma remarked.
On the other hand, AAP leader Priyanka Kakkar questioned the timing of the prosecution, suggesting it was politically motivated. “This will be the first case in the history of the country where you jailed Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, but both were granted bail by the trial court and the Supreme Court. After two years, you granted sanction to prosecute them, just as the elections are approaching. This is their same old routine—filing false cases to defame AAP leaders. But the public has understood everything now,” she said.
The AAP leadership maintains that the move to prosecute Kejriwal and Sisodia is part of a broader effort to tarnish the party’s image ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections, asserting that the people of Delhi are aware of these tactics.
