Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal‘s arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in an excise policy-related money laundering case, calling it an attack on democracy and constitution.
“The arrest of Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren and Delhi Chief Minister is an attack on democracy and our constitution. This is the politics of revenge at play. The BJP is afraid of the INDIA alliance. This is an attack on democracy and our constitution,” Ramesh told ANI.
He launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the entire country is in an “OPD-One Person Dictatorship”. “There is only one thought in the Prime Minister’s mind-‘One Nation, No Election.”
The AAP supremo’s arrest drew criticism from opposition parties including DMK, Congress, Samajwadi Party, and Trinamool Congress.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor called upon the Supreme Court to take suo moto cognizance of Kejriwal’s arrest. “The court has every right to take imminent action against anything that has a material effect on the elections…”
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin also slammed the BJP-led central government saying that the “fascist BJP” government has sunk to despicable depths by arresting Arvind Kejriwal and that the relentless persecution of opposition leaders by the BJP government smacks of a desperate witch-hunt.
On Friday, Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court sent Kejriwal to ED custody till March 28. The probe agency had asked for 10 days remand after arresting the Delhi CM in the alleged Delhi excise policy case.
The ED alleged that the Delhi Chief Minister is the key conspirator and kingpin in demanding kickbacks from businessmen. The agency further claimed that Kejriwal was involved in forming the excise policy.
Kejriwal was arrested by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) in the excise policy case on Thursday after the Delhi High Court refused interim protection to Kejriwal from coercive action concerning the excise policy case.
The case pertains to alleged irregularities and money laundering in framing and implementing the Delhi excise policy case 2022, which was later scrapped.
(With inputs from agencies)
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Published: 23 Mar 2024, 10:21 AM IST