NEW DELHI, April 1;
Fearing its defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP through its political tool ED ensured that Delhi Chief Minister Shri Arvind Kejriwal was sent in judicial custody to keep him away from campaigning and make ‘Operation Lotus’ successful, said senior AAP leader Dilip Pandey here today.
The Rouse Avenue court on Monday sent the chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to judicial custody until April 15, less than three weeks before the country begins voting in Lok Sabha elections.
Addressing the media, senior AAP leader and chief whip in Legislative Assembly Shri Dilip Pandey said today, the sequence of events in Delhi court exposed the ED and proved that the BJP directed ED is playing an active role in the Lok Sabha elections as political tool of the BJP. By agreeing to judicial custody and not seeking his remand in court today, the ED proved the AAP stand correct. We had been repeatedly saying that Shri Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest just before the Lok Sabha elections is the result of the BJP’s anticipation of defeat in the elections. The BJP arrested Shri Arvind Kejriwal as they freaked out owing to the fear of defeat, he said.
Shri Dilip Pandey said the ED took him in remand for 11 days and grilled him and if it did not want to question him further, what was the logic behind sending a sitting chief minister in judicial custody. “A person is sent in judicial custody when there is an apprehension that the accused will run away, he is a flight risk, or he is not a law-abiding citizen. There is no such possibility in respect of Shri Arvind Kejriwal. His arrest in judicial custody has proved that the purpose of the ED and the BJP was never to interrogate Shri Arvind Kejriwal, but it was a ploy to keep him away from the elections. The basic idea was how to stop Shri Arvind Kejriwal, a strong ally of the INDIA alliance, from campaigning in the elections,” he said.
The AAP chief whip in Delhi Assembly said another reason to arrest Shri Arvind Kejriwal was that all attempts to run ‘Operation Lotus’ failed repeatedly when he was out of jail. “Today, we saw in the assembly that how the BJP is luring MLAs with money and offering ministership to the soldiers of Shri Arvind Kejriwal. Also, the BJP is telling our MLAs that how without any evidence we got Shri Arvind Kejriwal arrested and soon President rule will be imposed. So, if you want to remain in politics, take the money and join us. If you bring 10 MLAs with you, we’ll make you minister in our government,” he said.
Shri Dilip Pandey said the BJP has been exposed before the entire country that it doesn’t want the AAP’s key leader Shri Arvind Kejriwal to campaign in the elections. The BJP doesn’t want Shri Arvind Kejriwal to work for people of Delhi and continue to rule the hearts of the Delhiites, he added.