New Delhi, March 22, 2024;
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) senior leader and Delhi Cabinet Minister Atishi today said that the arrest of AAP National Convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Shri Arvind Kejriwal is a political conspiracy by the Bharatiya Janata Party against its most formidable political rival in the country.
She said this is the first time in the history of Indian democracy that a sitting Chief Minister has been arrested by the ED, which has become a political weapon of the BJP. It’s also the first time in the country’s history that the National Convenor of a national party has been arrested after the announcement of Lok Sabha elections when the election Model Code of Conduct is in force, added Atishi.
Addressing a press conference here today, she said, “The arrest of CM Arvind Kejriwal is a political conspiracy by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against the Aam Aadmi Party. By misusing the investigating agency ED, the arrest of CM Arvind Kejriwal in a case where the CBI, ED has not been able to recover any money or trace any proceeds of crime despite two years of investigation shows that the BJP and PM Narendra Modi are scared of him.”
Atishi said that PM Narendra Modi is very well aware that if there is one leader who can challenge him, he is CM Arvind Kejriwal. That is why the BJP and PM Narendra Modi are trying every tactic to suppress the voice of CM Arvind Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party. That is why they are arresting leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party one after another. Today, all the top 5 leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party have been put behind bars on false charges by the BJP-led central government, she added.
The senior AAP leader said I would like to tell the BJP that Arvind Kejriwal is not just a Chief Minister, but an idea and an inspiration. He is a person who left his well-paying IRS job and took to the streets to save the democracy of this country and the constitution. “Today, the BJP-led central government has arrested Arvind Kejriwal. The BJP must know that they can get one Arvind Kejriwal arrested, but then thousands more Arvind Kejriwals will take to the streets of Delhi to save the democracy of this country,” she said.
Atishi said that today the BJP has left no stone unturned to eliminate democracy in this country. Everyone sees how all the opposition leaders are being attacked. If the leaders join the BJP, then all CB, ED charges against them are dismissed, and if they refuse to join the BJP, they are put behind bars. On the other hand, the BJP extorts money from businessmen by threatening them in the name of the CBI and ED and forces them to buy electoral bonds. “Former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren was arrested, and then the Congress party bank accounts were seized. This is an effort to hijack the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and eliminate the opposition,” she said.
The AAP senior leader said, “If the leaders in the opposition are arrested and the bank accounts of opposition parties are seized, then how will they contest elections? But I must tell this to the BJP that whatever you are doing today, you will get a (befitting) response from Delhi, Punjab, and the people of this country.”
She added that the security of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal is also a concern for all of us because he used to have Z-plus security here. Now that he has been arrested, who is responsible for his security? “This is a major concern for the Aam Aadmi Party and all of us. Whether the central government is providing appropriate security to CM Arvind Kejriwal inside the ED office is also important. It is an assessment of the central government itself that Arvind Kejriwal, being the CM of Delhi, requires Z-plus security. The central government must share what arrangements have been made to ensure his security,” she said.
