Following the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, social activist Anna Hazare on Friday said that the arrest of the AAP chief was because of his own "deeds."
"I am very upset that Arvind Kejriwal, who used to work with me, raise his voice against liquor, is now making liquor policies. His arrest is because of his own deeds," Mr Hazare said today.
The Enforcement Directorate arrested Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with the Delhi excise policy case on Thursday night, in which two senior AAP leaders are already in judicial custody.
Arvind Kejriwal had joined the Anna movement in 2011 against the then Congress government's alleged corruption. He rode on to fame, floated his own political party in 2012, and contested for the chief minister's office.
In another development, the Delhi Chief Minister earlier withdrew his plea from the Supreme Court against his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with an excise policy-linked money laundering case as it was clashing with his remand.
Arvind Kejriwal was arrested after skipping nine summonses issued against him by the Enforcement Directorate and Delhi High Court, which refused to grant him relief from any coercive action by the probe agency.
The case pertains to alleged irregularities and money laundering in framing and implementing the Delhi excise policy case 2022, which was later scrapped.
In Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister KP Maurya lashed out at the Congress, an AAP partner in INDIA bloc, for coming out in support of Arvind Kejriwal, said, "Congress is the mother of corruption... The language that their leader Rahul Gandhi is using will be decided in the Lok Sabha polls... People took it as their right to indulge in corruption."
"They keep accusing the central agencies as if they are working at the orders of the PMO or the HMO. The agencies are working neutrally. Arvind Kejriwal was issued 9 summonses but he is has the pride of power. If the ED is wrong, then he should have gone to court...," the BJP leader said.
Arvind Kejriwal's arrest came days after the ED arrested K Kavitha, Bharat Rashta Samithi (BRS) leader and daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, in connection with its investigation into money laundering charges linked to the now-scrapped excise policy.
Earlier Manish Sisodia, who was the then Delhi Deputy Chief Minister, was arrested by the CBI on February 26 following several rounds of questioning. On October 5, ED arrested Sanjay Singh, who is a Rajya Sabha member.
Arvind Kejriwal's arrest also comes ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, which will be held from April 19 to June 1, as per the schedule announced by the Election Commission earlier in the month.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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