The Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday questioned the timing of the Enforcement Directorate's summons to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and again asserted that the excise policy case is "bogus and fake".
Asked about the Enforcement Directorate asking the AAP chief to appear before the agency on December 21, the party said its legal team would reply to the agency's notice. AAP leaders said Kejriwal's Vipassana session for which he will leave on Tuesday was "pre-scheduled" and the information was in the public domain.
"Everyone knows the Chief Minister is leaving for Vipassana on December 19. He regularly goes for this meditation course. It's a pre-scheduled and pre-announced plan. "He will be consulting lawyers. They will decide what answer has to be given to the ED and whether any reply is to be given at all or not. It has been announced that he will go for Vipassana," AAP MP Raghav Chadha said.
Chadha said that if BJP is scared of any leader, it is Kejriwal. "I am sure he haunts them in their dreams," he said. Delhi Cabinet Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj echoed similar views and expressed surprise at the timing of the summons.
"It was in the public domain. It was decided a month before that Kejriwal would leave for Vipassana. Why was December 21 chosen? We are also surprised. Our legal team is studying it and we will respond to it," he added. His cabinet colleague, Atishi said people of the country are watching.
"Sometimes the BJP says it is a scam of Rs 50,000 crore sometimes Rs 10 crore and sometimes Rs 2000 crore. This is a fake case. "It is absolutely clear that the BJP is scared of the AAP and Kejriwal model. That is why they are trying to put AAP leaders in jail one by one.
"People of the country are watching. If someone is working for poor it is Kejriwal. These (ED summons) are ways to scare leaders. AAP will continue fighting in the interest of the poor people and the Constitution," she said. The ED on Monday issued a fresh summons to the Delhi chief minister for questioning on December 21 in the excise policy-linked money laundering case.
Kejriwal is scheduled to go to an undisclosed place to attend a 10-day Vipassana meditation course.
