Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said those whom the BJP accuses of wrongdoing are rewarded with ministerial berths upon joining the party. (Image: PTI/File)
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal also said if someone has committed a “huge sin or a crime” and joined the BJP, the CBI, ED or I-T department would not dare to touch that person
AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday dubbed the Narendra Modi government’s fight against corruption a nautanki or theatrics, saying those whom the BJP accuses of wrongdoing are rewarded with ministerial berths upon joining the party.
Addressing a party event in Haryana’s Rohtak, the Delhi chief minister also said if someone has committed a “huge sin or a crime” and joined the BJP, the officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Enforcement Directorate (ED) or income tax (I-T) department would not dare to touch that person.
“Who are the corrupt? The corrupt are not those who have been nabbed by the ED and sent behind bars. The corrupt are those who joined the BJP due to ED’s scare. Those who have been nabbed by the ED but did not join the BJP are fiercely honest. Because they know today or tomorrow they will come out,” he said.
“But those who indulge in dishonesty, know that if they are arrested they will have to go to jail for life and immediately join the BJP. So, understand who is corrupt and who is honest,” the AAP leader said. “The prime minister says he is fighting against corruption and the corrupt but I want to tell him that if that was true, then Kejriwal would have been the first one to support you. Modi visited a state and named a few leaders saying they were corrupt and would be jailed. Sometime later, those leaders joined the BJP,” he said without taking any names.
He asked: “Is this your fight against corruption? This is a nautanki (theatrics).”
The ED had recently summoned Kejriwal for questioning in the alleged Delhi excise policy case and to record his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Kejriwal on Thursday (November 2) did not appear before the ED and wrote to the central agency demanding the “recall” of its summons to him, calling it “vague, motivated and unsustainable in law”. “People are also talking about a friend of the prime minister who is actually running the country,” the Delhi CM said.
“It is said that the PM only works for that friend. And it is also said that this friend is running the country and not the PM. Laws are made from his office and passed, it is he who makes the decisions. This is a dangerous situation,” he said.
Targeting the BJP at the event attended by several thousands of party office bearers of village and ward level, he said, “They say they will arrest Kejriwal, I want to tell them you may arrest me, but how will you suppress my voice.”
“They say I speak a lot against Modi ji. I want to tell Modi ji, I will support you, the entire AAP will support you if you start working for 140 crore people of this country and not for one friend,” he said. He further alleged that the BJP makes a list of people who speak against the PM and then directions are given to the CBI and other agencies to target them in “fake” cases.
“What was (AAP leader) Sanjay Singh’s fault, his fault was that he raised his voice against the PM in parliament. The people of the country have given AAP so much love that today the party has government in two states, Delhi and Punjab,” Kejriwal said.
“We are the third largest party after BJP and Congress in the country. And Modi ji is scared of this… the speed at which the AAP is growing. Modi ji is not scared of Kejriwal, he is scared of your power, the people’s power,” he said. Without taking names, Kejriwal said in Haryana, one party talks about Jats and another about non-Jats, but neither does any good to any of these communities after coming to power.
Kejriwal said winds of change are sweeping Haryana and AAP will come to power in the state in the 2024 assembly polls.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)
