Bharatiya Janata Party national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla on Saturday reacted to Aam Aadmi Party claims that arrested Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will run the government from jail and said that the AAP government has "satta ka nasha" (addicted to power).
Poonawalla further asked the people of Delhi if the cabinet meetings of the government would take place in jail?
"From 'Swaraj' to 'Sharaab', from 'Anna Hazare' to 'Lalu Prasad Yadav', today what we are seeing is actually the 'satta ka nasha'. When this satta ka nasha' reaches your head then look at the manner in which this Aam Aadmi Party once upon a time used to say first "istifa and then jaanch". They used to say for Laluji and Sonia ji. Today when the Court is sending them to the remand, they say no 'istifa' (resignation), no 'jaanch' and we will run our 'sarkaar' (government) from Tihar," BJP leader said.
He further said that this is the first instance where the government will operate from the jail.
"This is the first instance where the government will operate from the jail. Is this constitutionally, legally and morally possible? If this is vendetta politics, then your BFF Congress has written the first complaint in the liquor scam. Pawan Khera said that we have started the investigation. The Congress should tell us whether AAP is corrupt for not? But see how the 'kaal chakra' changes," he added.
He further said that the people of Delhi will not be stopping their questioning in liqour scam by playing the "victim card."
"This shows the transformation that has taken place that Anna Hazare has tears in his eyes and Arvind Kejriwal is in the company of Lalu Prasad Yadav," he added.
Earlier, speaking to ANI on Saturday, Bhardwaj said that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal should continue as the CM.
"Arvind Kejriwal will do whatever people want. He has always made his decisions in public interest and considering the greater good. Before making this decision (to run the affairs of Delhi from ED custody, he got in touch with all his MLAs, held meetings, and met the councilors. We also spoke with people in all wards. Everyone said Arvind Kejriwal should continue as the CM, as there is no rule that stops him from running the government from jail (ED custody)," Bhardwaj said.
Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said that the ED has given the factual position and the court will decide now.
Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that left and Congress coming together is not a surprise, they are INDI alliance partners, and they're cooperating in elections all over the country
"They coming together will only reinforce the truth that they are essentially two sides of the same coin...what they are doing in Kerala is just a drama...the drama of the outrage against Arvind Kejriwal's arrest, the people of the country know fully well, Arvind Kejriwal was accorded the decency and courtesy of multiple notices by ED...he chose not to appear before ED...consequence of not responding to multiple ED summons is arrest... why didn't he respond to the summons earlier?... Every year and during every election Congress and Left lose ground and popular support because people don't want half truth anymore," Chandrasekhar said.
Delhi BJP President Virendraa Sachdeva along with former Union Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan and other leaders vowed to fight against corruption at Raj Ghat, in the national capital.
"The protest has been taken out by the BJP cadres at Raj Ghat, where every party worker has taken the pledge and demanded the resignation of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, who has been the kingpin of the Capital's biggest liquor scam...This Ramleela Maidan, under the leadership of Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal made many promises, he called every leader corrupt and today he has joined them. We are just demanding his (Arvind Kejriwal) resignation," Former Union Minister and BJP leader Dr Harsh Vardhan said.
Earlier today, while addressing a press conference, senior AAP leader and minister Atishi alleged that the money trail was found in the BJP's account and challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ED to 'arrest' BJP national president JP Nadda.
"In the so-called excise policy scam of Delhi, CBI and ED investigations have been going on for the past two years. In these two years, a question has come up again and again Where is the money trail? Where did the money go? No proceeds of crime were recovered from any leader, minister or worker of AAP," Atishi said.
Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said that since the time discussion started in the Supreme Court regarding the electoral bonds, the BJP, SBI, central government, and Election Commission were trying not to disclose the details.
"Since the time discussion started in the Supreme Court regarding the electoral bonds, BJP, SBI, central government, and Election Commission were trying not to disclose the details. However, now that it has been disclosed; it raises various serious questions," he added.
AAP leader Priyanka Kakkar also said that the Supreme Court acted very strictly and asked them to reveal all the details publicly.
"The Supreme Court acted very strictly and asked them to reveal all the details publicly. However, data (related to electoral bonds) before 2019 is still missing," Kakkar said.
Arvind Kejriwal was on Friday remanded to the custody of the Enforcement Directorate for seven days, i.e., till March 28, a day after he was arrested by the probe agency in connection with the Delhi Excise Policy case linked to a money laundering case.
Special CBI judge Kaveri Baweja of the Rouse Avenue Court passed the order after Kejriwal was produced on Friday following his arrest on Thursday night by the central probe agency.
Two senior AAP leaders, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, are in judicial custody in the excise policy case. Sisodia, who was the then Delhi Deputy Chief Minister, was arrested by the CBI on February 26, 2023 following several rounds of questioning. On October 5, last year the ED arrested Sanjay Singh, who is a Rajya Sabha member.
