Senior Aam Aadmi Party leader and Cabinet Minister Atishi, addressing a press conference, shared that the BJP’s ED is unlawfully using summons to stop Delhi CM Shri Arvind Kejriwal from campaigning in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. She stated that the BJP is using the ED and CBI as political weapons to intimidate opposition leaders, and to hinder the success of the India Alliance.
Atishi mentioned that if any opposition leader joins the BJP, the issuance of summons and arrests stops, and the ED often withdraws cases by going to court. Speaking about the illegal summons, she questioned on what basis Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is being summoned, emphasizing that the ED has not provided any answers to the letters of the CM yet. Atishi also questioned what are these questions from the ED for which responses can only be given verbally at the ED office.
AAP Senior leader Atishi said, “The BJP-led Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued an illegal summons to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for the third time. In the previous two summons, CM Arvind Kejriwal questioned the legality of the summons, raising several queries in letters to the ED. He sought clarification on the basis and capacity in which he was being summoned, whether as a witness, a suspect, the CM of Delhi, or as the AAP National Convener. Despite three letters to the ED, he has not received any responses.”
She added that hence it is evident that these summons are unlawful, as the ED has not provided any clarification in response to Arvind Kejriwal’s queries. The lack of communication from the ED suggests that the officials are aware of the dubious nature of the summons. The absence of a response indicates that these summons are politically motivated and have been sent on the directions of BJP.
Atishi pointed out that if the summons were legitimate, the ED would have addressed CM Arvind Kejriwal’s queries and specified the reasons for calling him. There is a suspicion that the ED officials are hesitant to reply truthfully, as it may reveal political interference from the BJP. She said that AAP’s sympathies are with the ED officials because they are working as per BJP directives.
The AAP leader added, “BJP is using CBI and ED as political weapons against opposition leaders. Illegal summons are sent to leaders of the INDIA Alliance, raids, and arrests are conducted without sufficient evidence, and these charges are often dropped when leaders join the BJP. Hemant Biswa Sarma, Pema Khandu, Shubhendu Adhikari, and Chagan Bujbal are some examples of this. As soon as the opposition leader under scanner joins the BJP, all charges are cleared.”
She questioned why the ED has been unable to gather evidence in the alleged liquor scam case after a year and a half of investigation. Despite multiple raids on AAP leaders’ residences and villages, no incriminating evidence has been found. This leads to the conclusion that the ED cannot truthfully respond to Arvind Kejriwal’s queries, indicating a lack of evidence.
The AAP Senior leader said, “Hence, it is clear that ED cannot reply truthfully to the queries of the CM, which is why it is ignoring the letters of CM. They also know that these summons are being sent to stop CM Arvind Kejriwal from campaigning for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. All the opposition leaders have come together as INDIA alliance against the BJP, this is why the BJP, by using ED and CBI wants to attack opposition leaders.”
She further said, “I want to tell BJP that the Aam Aadmi Party is an honest party. We have neither done any corruption of even a single penny to date, nor we will do it in the future. We are not scared of threats of CBI or ED. Send as many summons as you want. But in the end, the truth will come in front of everyone. AAP is not scared of these hollow threats, its leaders are not at all scared of going to jail. We will continue our fight.”
