Arvind Kejriwal slams Modi over ED raids in Punjab, says people will give reply to him in 2027 polls

New Delhi: AAAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday over ED raids against Punjab minister Sanjeev Arora, alleging a misuse of the agency to scare his party colleagues into joining the BJP.

Earlier in the day, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted fresh searches against Punjab Industries Minister Arora and some others allegedly linked to him as part of a probe into a newly-registered money-laundering case, officials said.

Arora was subsequently arrested by the federal agency.

Addressing a press conference here, Kejriwal said though the ED and the CBI are supposed to work on money-laundering and corruption cases, "under Modi's rule, these are working to threaten, scare and break away opposition leaders and force them to join the BJP. The raid against Arora is an action in the same direction".

The national convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said this was the second ED raid against Arora within a month and wondered what the agency was looking for.

Earlier in the day, in a long post on X in Hindi, Kejriwal said, "Modiji has got daily ED raids started in Punjab soon after the Bengal polls concluded. Modiji has coerced Punjab in the last few years and ill-treated Punjabis by different means." The former Delhi chief minister then likened Modi to Aurangzeb.

Like Aurangzeb, Kejriwal said, "Modiji has dishonestly occupied various parts of the country and now reached Punjab. Punjab, taking inspiration from the sacrifices of Sikh gurus, will face Modiji's torture and save the whole country from it."

He alleged that attempts were made to dilute Punjab's rights over river waters and take away the Panjab University to favour Haryana. Kejriwal alleged that funds for the state's rural development were also stopped.

He claimed that AAP's Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Mittal joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after ED raids at his premises.

Arora was also raided, but he did not join the saffron party and hence, another raid was conducted against him, Kejriwal alleged.

"Immense pressure was put on him to join the BJP. Had he joined the BJP on the day of the first raid, the ED would not have raided him today. Today's raid was to teach him a lesson for not joining the BJP. Either join the BJP or get arrested," he said.

The BJP has always tried to destroy Punjab and failed every single time, Kejriwal said. Calling the raids a political warning to Punjab, he said the saffron party and Modi are trying to challenge the state through the ED, but Punjab had neither bowed down in the past nor would it do so now.

Invoking Punjab's history of resistance, the AAP supremo asserted that the land of the gurus had once given a reply to Aurangzeb and would now do the same with Modi in the 2027 state Assembly polls.

He also said several leaders, including West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and his Assam counterpart, Himanta Biswa Sarma, were accused of corruption by BJP leaders but never arrested because they joined the saffron party subsequently.

On the BJP's position in Punjab, Kejriwal claimed that it does not even have suitable candidates for next year's Assembly polls. "That is why they are trying to break other parties and induct their leaders into the BJP." Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva hit back at Kejriwal and the AAP, saying they are scared that corruption in Punjab would be exposed.

He said it was evident from Kejriwal's "nervous demeanour" at the press conference that he is well aware that the ED probe, which has now reached Arora, may eventually reach him as well.

"Arvind Kejriwal himself appears to be the mastermind behind this entire extortion conspiracy," Sachdeva said.

The manner in which Arora was arrested following the raid linked to "collusion" with builders is very similar to how Delhi suffered for 10 years under a "corrupt" AAP government, and how Kejriwal himself and his minister and MP were jailed in connection with the liquor "scam", the BJP leader added.