‘Arrest us all' Kejriwal taunts; BJP dismisses ‘conspiracy theorists’

After his health minister was arrested by the ED, Kejriwal says next to be targeted will be his deputy. He now wants BJP all ‘fake’ arrests done at one go

Delhi Chief Minister, and Aam Aadmi Party supremo, Arvind Kejriwal said on Thursday that next to be arrested in some trumped up charge would be Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. Kejriwal’s claim came just a few days after his cabinet health minister Satyendra Jain was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate for a years-old money laundering case.

Attacking Kejriwal’s statement, the Bharatiya Janata Party retorted in a tweet: “Conspiracy theorist strikes back! By not answering a single pointed question, Kejriwal Ji has in a way admitted to the Hawala nexus of his Minister. It would be easier to come out ‘clean’ for once instead of peddling fake sob stories which do not have any takers anymore.”

BJP IT Department chief Amit Malviya said: “Recently in Karnataka, Arvind Kejriwal inducted Kodihalli Chandrashekhar in AAP (sic). This week, farmer’s union expelled the same Chandrashekhar, after a TV sting showed him demanding 35 crore to end KSRTC employees’ strike, he led in 2021. Kejriwal’s honesty certificate is a joke!”

Also read: Manish Sisodia will soon be arrested in 'fake' case: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal

Kerjiwal, while addressing a press conference in Delhi, claimed that till now, 16 lakh people have taken the benefit of “faceless services?” at RTOs and in Delhi, there is an honest government.

“We've not done anything wrong. We are not afraid of any investigation, raid or arrest. I request PM Modi to put all the ministers and MLAs from AAP behind bars and ask all central agencies to do all investigations at a go. Do as many raids as you want. You arrest one minister at a time, it obstructs public works,” Kejriwal said, as his party claimed that the Centre was planning to implicate Sisodia in a three-year-old case.

Implying that there were political forces behind Jain’s arrest—Jain was looking after AAP’s affairs in the poll-bound Himachal Pradesh—Kejriwal mused, “Some people say this is because of upcoming Himachal Pradesh elections, some say this is revenge for Punjab elections.”

Another AAP leader Atishi hit out at the central government alleging that it had given a mandate to all investigative agencies to begin preparations to register fake cases against Sisodia and arrest him.

After Jain’s arrest, AAP leaders maintained that the case lodged against Jain was “fake”.

“In January, we had said Jain is going to be arrested. CM Kejriwal had predicted his arrest a few months back and that is what happened. Now we have learnt Sisodia is going to be arrested,” she said. She also accused the BJP of “not being able to digest that the Kejriwal model is getting recognition in the world today.”

She also shared a purported document to buttress her point, which AAP MP Sanjay Singh also put out on Twitter: “Modi ji's ACB got this complaint from BJP leaders 3 years ago, ACB kept sleeping. After the arrest of @SatyendarJain, today Modi ji has started planning the arrest of the father of education revolution @msisodia (Manish Sisodia). Modi ji's ACB, who woke up after 3 years, should get an award."

Kejriwal had earlier claimed that the central government had directed agencies to arrest Sisodia as it wanted to hinder the progress made by the city in the field of education.

Kejriwal, who reallocated Jain’s portfolios to Sisodia after the arrest, alleged that Jain’s arrest hampered progress of many important projects, including Mohalla Clinics. Jain was arrested on May 31 in a money-laundering case, and is now in ED custody till June 9.