Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi minister Atishi on Tuesday alleged that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) will arrest her and three other party leaders -Saurabh Bharadwaj, Durgesh Pathak and Raghav Chadha – if they don’t join the BJP.
Atishi, a prominent face in the Delhi government after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest, alleged that the BJP was now targetting AAP’s next line of leaders.
“I have been told that soon there will be ED raids at our residence and then we will be taken into custody. The BJP is now targetting the next line of the leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party,” the Delhi minister said.
“I have been approached to join the BJP through a personal contact. I have been told that either I can join the BJP and save my political career or get arrested in the next one month. An individual very close to me told me that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made up his mind to put every AAP leader in jail. Starting with Satyendar Jain, Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh, now they have arrested Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. But now they want to arrest another four top leaders — me, Raghav Chadha, Durgesh Pathak and Saurabh Bharadwaj,” she added.
Narrating how things will play out in the next few months, Atishi claimed that the central probe agency will raid their (AAP leaders’) residences and issue summons before putting them in jail.
“Then we will be issued summons and then we will be put in jail. But I want to tell the BJP that we are not scared. Put all of us in jail, we will stand with Arvind Kejriwal until our last breath. Put everyone in jail. ten others will take that place and join Arvind Kejriwal’s fight,” the AAP leader said.
Atishi’s big claim comes a day after the Enforcement Directorate told Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court that jailed Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had taken the names of Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj, another Delhi minister, during interrogation.
“Kejriwal told during interrogation that Vijay Nair (accused turn-approver) used to report not to me but to Atishi. Vijay Nair has been close to Kejriwal. Kejriwal said during interrogation that Nair did not report to him, he used to report to Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj,” ED told the court during Monday’s hearing.
The court has sent Kejriwal to judicial custody in the liquor policy linked money laundering case till April 15.