In the heart of New Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party intensified its pressure on the BJP-led Centre through demonstrations led by its prominent figure and Delhi Minister, Saurabh Bhardwaj. Under the banner of the ‘Thali Bajao Campaign’, the rallying cry “Kejriwal ko Riha Karo” (Liberate Kejriwal) echoed through the streets of Greater Kailash.
Earlier, Sunita Kejriwal, the spouse of Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, made her way to the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) office on a Tuesday evening to rendezvous with the AAP’s head honcho. The Rouse Avenue Court had recently sanctioned Kejriwal’s remand into the custody of the ED for six days, extending until March 28, in connection to a money laundering inquiry pertaining to an alleged malpractice surrounding liquor policies. This followed his apprehension on March 21.
On the preceding Saturday, Sunita Kejriwal visited CM Kejriwal at the ED’s premises. Meanwhile, the BJP has clamored for Kejriwal’s resignation from his position as chief minister post his detention in relation to the liquor policy imbroglio.
However, the AAP has been resolute in its stance that Kejriwal will continue to govern even from the confines of ED custody. Saurabh Bharadwaj, the Health Minister of Delhi, articulated that CM Kejriwal had dispatched a secondary directive from his ED detainment, tasking the alleviation of medicine and diagnostic shortages at local clinics and hospitals in the capital city.
Kejriwal’s detention on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate was in connection to the excise policy dossier. The allegations revolve around purported discrepancies and money laundering activities in formulating and executing the Delhi excise policy of 2022, which was subsequently annulled.
Though Kejriwal’s name did not feature in the initial FIRs lodged by the ED or the Central Bureau of Investigation in relation to the Delhi excise policy episode, it surfaced for the first time in the ED’s dossier. The agency alleged that he engaged in a video conversation with Sameer Mahendru, a prime suspect, and encouraged him to collaborate with co-accused AAP communications chief, Vijay Nair.
Nair was one of the primary individuals apprehended by the CBI in 2022 in connection to the case. Subsequently, former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh were also apprehended in connection to the case.
