Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal arrested in Delhi liquor policy scam
On the night of Thursday, March 21, Arvind Kejriwal became the first sitting chief minister in independent India to be arrested by a Union government agency.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief minister was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the Delhi excise policy case, or Delhi liquor policy scam, as it is popularly known as.
Crucially, the arrest comes just a month before the six-week-long Lok Sabha elections are scheduled to start, in which the AAP is a crucial member of the Opposition’s INDIA coalition, and in which it and the Congress are putting up a united front against the BJP in Delhi.
Kejriwal was arrested after skipping nine summonses from the ED over the past several months. He was arrested hours after the Delhi High Court rejected his anticipatory bail plea. He was taken to the ED office after two hours of questioning at his official residence.
The ED is planning to produce Kejriwal to the Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi on Friday morning.
Senior leader and Education Minister in the Delhi government, Atishi Marlena Singh told the media last night that they will approach the Supreme Court for an emergency hearing.
Atishi slammed the ED’s move, describing it as a “political conspiracy” the BJP, hatched since it is scared of Kejriwal.
She said that just before the elections, the Modi government froze the bank accounts of one political party [implying the Congress], arrested one chief minister [implying Hemant Soren] and now arrest another [all part of the anti-NDA INDIA coalition], and asked whether this was the way they expected to win the Lok Sabha elections.
She said Arvind Kejriwal was, is and will remain the chief minister, and would run the government from prison, if it came to that.
Kejriwal became the third AAP politician to be arrested in the case, after deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh last year. Very recently, Kalvakuntla Kavitha, the daughter of the last Telangana chief minister and head of Bharat Rashtra Samithi, K Chandrasekhar Rao was also arrested by the ED in the same case.
Immediately after Kejriwal’s arrest, large numbers of his supporters came out on to the streets of Delhi to protest the arrest. A large protest is scheduled at 10 am on Friday morning at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg.
The Opposition has come out in support of Kejriwal and AAP, and has slammed the Modi government for the arrest.
While Rahul Gandhi posted on X (formerly Twitter) that “a scared dictator wants to create a dead democracy” and that “now the arrest of elected chief ministers has become a common thing”, Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien tweeted, saying ,”We vehemently condemn the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal, an elected CM, especially when EC is in charge & MCC is in place. … If SC & ECI fail to act now, who will stand with people against BJP’s oppressive politics in future?”
Sharad Pawar posted on X: “Strongly condemn the vindictive misuse of central agencies to target the opposition, especially as general elections loom. This arrest showcases the depth to which BJP will stoop for power. ‘INDIA’ stands united against this unconstitutional action against #ArvindKejriwal.”
According to political experts, Kejriwal’s could become the rallying point of the tottering INDIA alliance, and could, contrary to the BJP’s expectations, boomerang on it.
Arvind Kejriwal has become the second chief minister to be arrested by a Union government agency in recent times after the former Jharkhand chief minister, Hemant Soren of the Jharkhand Mukt Morcha was also arrested by the ED on January 31 in a money laundering case. To prevent a constitutional crisis in the state, he resigned just before getting arrested.
