Senior AAP leader and Delhi Cabinet Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Thursday alleged that the BJP had conspired to arrest Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to take advantage of his absence during the Lok Sabha elections.

Kejriwal on Wednesday skipped the summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the Delhi excise policy case for the third time.

Addressing the press at the party headquarters here, Bharadwaj said, “It’s a nationwide discussion that the Central Government wants to arrest Delhi’s CM Arvind Kejriwal. For the last two years, we have been hearing that an alleged excise corruption has happened. Every day the BJP conducts press conferences. As per the corruption of worth crores happened, yet not a single penny has been recovered.”

He said at more than 500 places investigations have been carried out, and more than a dozen people have been arrested for a year. “Thousands of people have been inquired in this alleged liquor scam, from liquor distributors to those who put pamphlets for AAP, everyone has been arrested and tortured for the testimonies by the ED and CBI but still, the central government couldn’t come up with any evidence,” Bharadwaj said.

The Delhi Cabinet minister further added, “It’s evident that they have hatched a conspiracy to arrest Delhi’s CM Shri Arvind Kejriwal since Lok Sabha elections are approaching. With the arrest of Shri Arvind Kejriwal, the BJP believes that they will have a significant advantage during the Lok Sabha elections.”

He said Kejriwal stated that the CBI summoned him and he went there to answer the CBI’s questions.

“Now, the ED is summoning repeatedly and his lawyers are telling him that this summons is illegal. Whatever information they want they can take, they have all the documents, and evidence but their case is not finding any ground in the courts. They are not able to initiate the trials, only lodging one charge sheet after another. The BJP people say that the law is taking its course and agencies are doing their deed,” Bharadwaj said.

Bharadwaj said, “I want to know under which law these agencies operate that these agencies close or stall the ongoing investigation against the leaders who have joined the BJP. And not one there are many such examples. Himanta Biswa Sarma is now chief minister of Assam, earlier the BJP ran a campaign against him for his corruption. Agencies carried out an investigation and he was put under pressure.

“Mukul Roy, Subendu Adhikari, Narayan Rane, Ajit Pawar, Chhagan Bhujbal, Praful Patel, and Pema Khandu are such leaders against these leaders, are those over whom agencies’ swords were hanging. The ED-CBI was summoning them, a charge sheet was imminent, and the BJP was also branding them corrupt. But suddenly one day, these people join the BJP, and the whole matter cools down. If the agencies were doing their job, how did they forget their work after joining the BJP? This is showing the entire country quite clearly,” the Delhi Cabinet Minister said.

Bharadwaj said Arvind Kejriwal became Delhi’s CM on the strength of his honesty, and today, his government exists in two states.

“BJP feels the pain that why Arvind Kejriwal is considered honest? How can they strip him of his honesty? That’s why all day on TV channels, only summons and notices are floated so that somehow it can be proven that Arvind Kejriwal is not honest or that Arvind Kejriwal bends and joins BJP,” he added.

Bharadwaj said, “Today all agencies are after Arvind Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party. This is bad news for the country and democracy because if opposition leaders who raise public issues and question the government are continuously jailed, then democracy in the country will end. Then what’s the point of holding elections? BJP will fight alone, and only BJP supporters will deliver their speeches. No one will question the BJP, and without opposition, the BJP will keep winning. So, now this issue is not just about Arvind Kejriwal but about saving democracy in the country.”