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Amid the political showdown after Arvind Kejriwal skipped yet another summons from the ED in connection with the Delhi excise policy case, BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh on Friday came down heavily on the chief minister and AAP convenor, accusing him of subverting constitutional bodies and trying to create law and order problems for petty political interests.
Kejriwal, earlier, ignored the third summons by the central agency in the excise policy case, claiming that the BJP-led Centre was using institutions at its disposal to target Opposition leaders. Hitting back at the CM for defying ED summons on "one pretext or the other", Chugh said Kejriwal was deliberately plotting anarchy in society. Questioning why Kejriwal was running away from ED summons if he is, indeed, clean and innocent as he claims, the BJP leader told ANI, "Kejriwal has always claimed to be honest. Now, he has an opportunity to prove his innocence to the ED...tell them all about it. Where's the need to run away from an ongoing investigation?" Underlining further that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was unflinching and unsparing in his policy of zero tolerance towards corruption, the senior BJP leader said, "It is time for Kejriwal to come clean and tell the country what the truth is." The Delhi CM skipped the third summons issued to him by the ED, on Wednesday. The central agency issued the third summons to Kejriwal on December 22 last year, asking him to appear before the agency on January 3. A fresh war of words erupted between the BJP and the AAP following the third summons to the CM, with the former stating that Kejriwal was behaving like a fugitive. "One after the other, the scams of Kejriwal and his party are coming to light. Today, he is not ready to appear before the ED and is running around like a fugitive. If there is nothing to hide, why is he not appearing before the agency even after being issued the third summons (in the liquor policy) case?" BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla told ANI on Thursday. Earlier, on Thursday, Kejriwal said he would not bow to the 'hooliganism' and 'dictatorship' of the BJP. Accusing the ED of sending him 'false summons', the AAP national convenor said he explained to the agency why their summons was 'illegal', adding that his biggest strength and asset was his "honesty." Addressing a press conference on Thursday, the CM said, "In the last two years, all the agencies at the BJP's disposal have conducted many raids but not a single penny was found. If there was corruption, where is the money? AAP leaders are being put in jail in fake cases. Now the BJP wants to arrest me. My biggest strength and asset is my honesty." Questioning the timing of the notice just before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the CM claimed that the BJP wants to stop him from campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections. (ANI)
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