Dubbing Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as ‘Kattar beimaan’ (extremely dishonest), BJP national spokesperson on January 3 said the Aam Aadmi Party national convenor who thinks of himself as above the law has become “nervous.”
“…‘Kattar beimaan’ Arvind Kejriwal who once used to say that we have to eradicate corruption from India has now become such a corrupt person who thinks he is above the law. Arvind Kejriwal is nervous,” Bhatia said.
BJP criticised the AAP leader for skipping the summons by the Enforcement Directorate on January 3, for the third time in connection with the excise policy case.
“…Arvind Kejriwal wrote a letter to ED to take back the summons. He also said that there are elections in five states and that I am a star campaigner so I will not follow the summon…Whereas the data says that AAP got fewer votes than NOTA in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh,” Bhatia said during a press conference in the national capital.
Accusing Kejriwal of hypocrisy, Bhatia took a jibe at him stating, “Arvind Kejriwal is nervous and saying ‘Laaga chunari mein daag chupaun kaise, kiya hai bhrashtachaar ED ke paas jaun kaise’…”
The Delhi chief minister had similarly skipped an earlier summons by the agency dated October 30 citing electioneering in the poll-bound states ahead of the assembly elections in November last year, projecting himself as a “star campaigner” of the party as a reason for non-compliance.
Taking a dig at the AAP’s electoral performance in the polls referencing election data, Bhatia claimed that the AAP received fewer votes than NOTA in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh.
As per AAP sources, Kejriwal in his reply to ED has expressed his readiness to cooperate with the investigation but declined to appear today terming the agency’s notice as “illegal”.
Kejriwal was not named as an accused in the first information report (FIR) filed by the CBI on August 17, last year.
In February 2023, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was arrested by the CBI for alleged irregularities in the framing and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi’s new excise policy. The policy was withdrawn amid allegations of foul play by the opposition.
(With inputs from ANI)
