The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) lambasted the central government on Friday after the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) sent a summons to Delhi Chief minister and AAPโs national convenor Arvind Kejriwal in the now scrapped Delhi Excise Policy Case.
Delhiโs former deputy CM, Manish Sisodia, is already in jail in connection with the case.
CM Kejriwal has been asked to appear before the CBI on April 16 at 11 am. AAP said that CM Kejriwal will join the probe.
AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said that the Delhi CM had been summoned because he exposed the alleged ties between the central government and industrialist Gautam Adani during the recent Delhi assembly session.
He also accused the BJP-led government of attempting to arrest the CM. The MP described the move as a desperate attempt by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to silence the Opposition.
Singh also alleged that the central government had been conspiring against CM Kejriwal ever since he exposed the nexus between the central government and Adani. He added that CBI summons will only strengthen CM Kejriwalโs anti-corruption crusade.
โThe day CM Arvind Kejriwal exposed this scam, I told him that heโd be next on the BJPโs hit list. By exposing PM Modiโs ties with Adani, he had targeted the BJP right where it hurts them the most,โ Singh said while targeting PM Narendra Modi.
He further asked what crime the AAP convenor committed by exposing the scam. โThe CM only said that the lakhs of crores invested in the Adani group belong to PM Modi and not to Adani,โ he said.
Singh alleged that the BJP is targeting AAP to shield the central government. He said that the central government had been conspiring against CM Kejriwal since the very day he made this revelation.
Singh further asserted that CM Kejriwalโs โcrusadeโ against corruption wonโt stop despite the summons sent to him. โThe fact remains that the central government is tainted with accusations of wide-scale corruption and nothing can change that,โ Singh said. โCM Arvind Kejriwal swore to expose the reality of the central government in the assembly that day. But now, this expose will stir up a storm across the nation,โ he added.
Singh also said that the CBI can go ahead and arrest every single AAP leader and volunteer and yet they wonโt bow down before the BJP. โThis notice is not going to scare, the BJP can do whatever it wants, but it wonโt be able to shake AAPโs spirits,โ he thundered.
Meanwhile, Delhi education minister Atishi accused the central government of โmisusing agencies to intimidate opposition leadersโ.
She pointed out that allegations against Adani, as levelled by the Hindenburg Research report, are yet to be probed, while CM Arvind Kejriwal had been sent a CBI notice for exposing the alleged scams.
Atishi argued, โThis is a clear example of the governmentโs efforts to target CM Kejriwal, whom they saw as their next political target.โ
She stressed that the party would continue to fight against corruption and for the rights of the common people, despite any attempts to silence them.
