NEW DELHI: Delhi Minister Atishi accused the ED on Tuesday of becoming a “political weapon” of the BJP-led Centre. She claimed that the agency’s assertion that BRS leader K Kavitha was involved in paying Rs 100 crore to AAP leaders for favours in the now-scrapped excise policy had been dismissed by the Supreme Court.
Addressing a press conference, she alleged that the federal probe agency’s action was aimed at stopping Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal from campaigning in the Lok Sabha polls. Kavitha, the MLC daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) last week from her Hyderabad home, and she is in the federal probe agency’s custody until March 23.
In a statement on Monday, the ED claimed that Kavitha, along with others, “conspired with the top leaders of AAP, including Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, for getting favors in the Delhi excise policy formulation and implementation.” “In exchange for these favors, she was involved in paying Rs 100 crore to the leaders of AAP,” the agency said.
Dismissing the allegation, Atishi said, “ED is acting like a political party instead of a Central probe agency. It is also a big question as to why the ED is doing this under pressure. The ED has now become a political weapon of the BJP,” she alleged. Atishi said the BJP fears only fears Kejriwal.
In another press conference, her cabinet colleague Saurabh Bharadwaj echoed similar views and said Kejriwal posing questions to the BJP makes them uncomfortable. Referring to an order issued by Justice Sanjeev Khanna of the Supreme Court on October 30, 2023, Bharadwaj said in this order, the judge clearly stated that the allegation of Rs 100 crore transaction by the ED is somewhat a matter of debate, and no evidence or facts have been presented by the federal agency in the court in this regard.
“It is unfortunate that a probe agency, which should work independently for everyone, spent the entire day yesterday in the central government’s office constructing a negative narrative against political opponents and attempting to defame them,” he added.
Drawing an example from Putin’s recent victory in Russia, Bharadwaj mentioned that the Russian president received 87 per cent of the votes, and he portrayed his aggression against Ukraine as acceptable to the public based on this voting percentage.
He said, “However, the truth is that Putin has also eliminated all opposition leaders in his country. Putin has imprisoned his main opposition rival in Russia, who recently died in jail. “Similarly, in North Korea, which is known worldwide as a totalitarian country, their president Kim Jong Un holds elections in his country and declares himself the winner after the elections.
ED’s case against Satyendar Jain is political conspiracy: AAP
The AAP on Tuesday said that ED’s case against AAP leader Satyendar Jain is a political conspiracy as the agency has put him in jail solely based on statements by known hawala operators and without recovering any proceeds of crime. The party said that Jain has been implicated. It also emphasised that Jain and his wife could not be legally liable as they were not associated with the implicated company. Cabinet minister Atishi labelled the entire case as a political conspiracy to hinder AAP’s progress, particularly targeting CM Arvind Kejriwal’s initiatives such as free electricity and mohalla clinics.