"Arrest made to stop Kejriwal from campaigning": Congress' Prithviraj Chavan on Delhi CM arrest

Speaking to ANI, Prithviraj Chavan said, "They (BJP) have been sleeping for 10 years. Is it necessary to arrest? Arrest is a rare case. Papers can be taken which they (ED) have already done. The arrest has been made with the only purpose to stop Arvind Kejriwal from campaigning. We are not on the merit of the case, let the investigative agency decide that. Our objection is to the arrest of the senior leader of the INDIA bloc."

Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the excise policy case on Thursday.

Shortly after the Delhi Chief Minister was arrested, opposition parties, including the grand old party, condemned the arrest of the leader, citing it as a 'devilish power' and a 'systematic effort to subvert Indian democracy.

Taking to social media, Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi hit out at the arrest of the Delhi Chief Minister and called it a 'devilish power.'

"A scared dictator wants to create a dead democracy. While capturing all the institutions, including the media, breaking up the parties, extorting money from companies, and freezing the accounts of the main opposition party was not enough for the 'devilish power', now the arrest of the elected Chief Ministers has also become a common thing. INDIA will give a befitting reply to this," posted Gandhi on X.

Congress MP Deepender Hooda also slammed the BJP over the arrest of Kejriwal and said that it was "unfortunate but not surprising."

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor also reacted to the same and said that it was clear that a systematic effort was on to subvert Indian democracy during the general elections.

Meanwhile, CM Kejriwal who was produced before the court earlier in the day continued to maintain his stand. While entering the court complex for the remand hearing, Kejriwal told reporters, "My life is dedicated to the country whether I am inside or outside the prison."

Quoting Kejriwal the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in a post on X further added, "Lions do not get scared by coward dictators."

Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the excise policy case on Thursday after the Delhi High Court refused interim protection to Kejriwal from coercive action in connection with the excise policy case.

The case pertains to alleged irregularities and money laundering in framing and implementing the Delhi excise policy case 2022, which was later scrapped.

Kejriwal's arrest came days after the ED arrested Bharat Rashta Samithi (BRS) leader and daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao K Kavitha, in connection with its investigation into money laundering charges linked to the now-scrapped excise policy. Kavitha is in ED custody till March 23.

Two senior AAP leaders, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, are in judicial custody in the excise policy case. Sisodia, who was the then Delhi Deputy Chief Minister, was arrested by the CBI on February 26 following several rounds of questioning. On October 5, ED arrested Sanjay Singh, who is a Rajya Sabha member. (ANI)