Aam Aadmi Party leader and Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Wednesday said if the whole party is in jail then the government and the party would run from jail itself. He also claimed the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government wants this.
Saurabh Chaudhari spoke to the media about the apprehensions of Arvind Kejriwal's arrest following the Enforcement Directorate's summon under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act for questioning on November 2.
Bharadwaj told ANI, "It would be decided by the senior leaders of the party. But if the whole party is in jail, then the government and the party would run from jail. And this is what the BJP wants everyone should be in jail... They want free education, free electricity, free water, free pilgrimage, hospitals, and mohalla clinics to stop but Arvind Kejriwal will not let this happen..."
Further speaking about the current political situation and the history of AAP leaders being arrested for several cases of corruption and money laundering, Bharadwaj said, "Now it is disclosed that whoever can be an obstacle for the BJP, they and their party leaders would be sent to jail, one way or another. PMLA is a law in which anyone can be sent to jail for years without any proof."
He continued questioning the courts who have denied bail petitions of AAP leaders like Manish Sisodia who was arrested for his alleged involvement in the Delhi Excise Policy scam, he said, "When the whole nation is able to see this, why don't the courts understand this? Are the courts not able to see that the opposition leaders are being sent to jail one by one..."
Bharadwaj reportedly said, "In such a situation, we can only hope from the courts that they would stop the misuse of this law..."
What did AAP leader Raghav Chadha say?
At a press conference in New Delhi, AAP leader Raghav Chadha claimed that since 2014, 95 per cent of cases registered by the investigative agencies have been against opposition leaders.
"Now after the formation of the INDIA alliance, the BJP is rattled. We have learnt from sources that they have hatched a plan to target top leaders from the INDIA alliance. The first arrest in this plan will be of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal," he said.
"The BJP knows it is losing all the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi. It is planning to get Kejriwal arrested so that AAP is not able to contest the polls," Chadha added.
What did AAP leader Atishi say?
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Delhi Cabinet Minister Atishi claimed the BJP was using these tactics to target the AAP as it knows that it cannot defeat Kejriwal in elections.
"According to various sources, the ED will also arrest Arvind Kejriwal and put him in jail on November 2. Today, the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi want to eliminate the Aam Aadmi Party. This is why, one after another, AAP leaders are being arrested in false cases and sent to jail," she said.
