Nawanshahr : As the AAP leaders are observing a day-long hunger strike at Jantar Mantar against the arrest of party national convenor and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in connection with the Delhi excise policy case on Sunday, Punjab CM and AAP leader Bhagwant Mann said on Sunday that this is not a time to show political strength but to convey a message against the dictatorship.
"This is not a time to show political strength but to convey a message against the dictatorship. Today, we are in the village of Bhagat Singh, who gave us freedom, and that freedom is in danger. BR Ambedkar gave us the constitution, and that constitution is in danger," Mann said.
Hitting out at the BJP-led central government, the Punjab CM said, "The ruling government is trying to suppress the opposition. Arvind Kejriwal was arrested before the election because they (BJP) know that we do the politics of honesty and transparency. They are scared of us."
Earlier in the day, Bhagwant Mann paid tribute to Bhagat Singh in Khatkar Kalan, the native village of Bhagat Singh.
Kejriwal, who was arrested by the ED on March 21, was sent to judicial custody until April 15 and is lodged in Tihar Jail in connection with a money-laundering case linked to a liquor excise policy scam.
Meanwhile, Delhi Minister and AAP leader Atishi alleged that the money trail in the liquor policy scam was done by liquor trader Sharat Reddy for the BJP.
"People in Delhi love Arvind Kejriwal. They don't think of him as a CM but as their son, or brother. All want bail for Arvind Kejriwal. BJP's ED and CBI haven't been able to show a single penny of liquor scam from the leaders of AAP. If there is any money trail in this issue, it's from liquor trader Sharat Reddy to the BJP," the AAP leader said.
The AAP leader further questioned the central probe agency to reveal details regarding the action taken against leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in connection with alleged money laundering cases.
"Sharat Reddy donated 55 crores to the BJP... Why the BJP has not been raided, or accused, why has the BJP's National President not been summoned or arrested? ED, CBI act as political weapons of BJP", Atishi said.
Kejriwal was arrested by the central agency on charges of corruption in relation to the case. It is the first time in independent India that a serving Chief Minister has been arrested. The move came after Kejriwal skipped multiple summons by the investigation agency, nine in total, calling them "illegal."
The case pertains to alleged irregularities and money laundering in framing and implementing the Delhi excise policy 2022, which was later scrapped.
While Kejriwal was not named in the FIRs registered by the ED or the Central Bureau of Investigation in the Delhi excise policy case, his name first found a mention in the ED's chargesheet, wherein the agency claimed that he allegedly spoke to one of the main accused, Sameer Mahendru, in a video call and asked him to continue working with co-accused and AAP communications-in-charge Vijay Nair.
Nair was among the first people to be arrested by the CBI in the case, in 2022. Subsequently, former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh were arrested in connection with the case.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on April 2 granted bail to AAP MP Sanjay Singh, who was arrested on October 4, 2023, in a money laundering case related to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy.