A day after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summoned Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with the Delhi liquor policy case, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) accused the Central government of an attempt to finish the party.

The AAP cited the 170 cases registered against its party leaders to substantiate its claim.

Speaking at a press conference here on Tuesday, AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders themselves were spreading the word that they were going to get the AAP chief behind bars.

He alleged that the BJP was disturbed by the existence of the AAP ever since it was formed. He claimed that his is a party that has been targeted the most by the Centre in the history of India. He pointed out that 170 cases were registered against different leaders of the party, 48 cases filed against Sanjay Singh alone by the Centre and Uttar Pradesh government, while the AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal is facing dozens of cases registered against him.

Bhardwaj said the BJP has been sending senior AAP leadership behind bars with the aim of finishing off their party, but after every sinister attempt, the party emerged stronger than before.

In reply to a question over ED raids on AAP leaders, he said news of such raids has become very common. In fact, such things have become a routine affair. Nevertheless, AAP leaders have always cooperated with the investigation and never skipped summons issued by the probe agencies, he added.

Reacting to the development, Delhi cabinet minister Atishi said targeting of those who speak against the BJP and the use of probe agencies like the ED and the CBI to silence political opponents won’t end on Arvind Kejriwal. All the leaders of the Opposition INDIA bloc will be put behind bars.

Speaking to the media, Atishi took a dig at the BJP, saying the ruling dispensation at the Centre was aware of the fact that they could not defeat the AAP electorally, hence the urge to finish off the party by sending its leaders to jail.

Reacting to the AAP’s allegation that the Centre was trying to eliminate them, BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad said they (the AAP leaders) themselves had it coming on them by their own follies and involvement in corruption cases.

On the AAP claim that the probes into the liquor scam were false and that the charges against their leaders have no basis, he asked why Manish Sisodia is in jail. Why his bail plea was rejected by the district court, by the high court, and finally by the Supreme Court.

The ED has issued a notice to Arvind Kejriwal to appear before it on November 2 concerning the Delhi excise policy case. The case is related to a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR alleging irregularities in the Delhi excise policy (2021-22).

The policy was scrapped after allegations of corruption.

Earlier, during his questioning by the CBI, Kejriwal had termed the case fabricated. The questioning lasted for nine hours.

Meanwhile, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Kumar Jha, in his reaction to the summons issued to a news agency, said, “This is not ED’s, but BJP’s notice. This is the election season. We are not only fighting with the BJP but also with these institutions.”