‘It was Kejriwal who…’: BJP slams Atishi over her ‘arrest’ claims

Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) on Tuesday hit out at Delhi minister Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi over her allegations that “a person close to her said she should join BJP or be prepared to be arrested by ED within a month,” saying that no one could imply any false narrative on the BJP as it was the AAP supremo himself who pointed a finger towards them before the ED.
Party spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla accused Atishi of implying that courts are hand in gloves with the BJP. He said that if this is the case then why the court is not giving relief to the AAP leaders currently in judicial custody.
Read here: Atishi claims ED will arrest her, 3 other AAP leaders if they don’t join BJP
“The courts have denied bail and relief to Arvind Kejriwal, Sanjay Singh, Vijay Nair and Manish Sisodia. They say it’s vendetta politics, are they implying courts are doing vendetta? Are they implying that the courts are hand in glove with the BJP and are orchestrating this? If they have all the evidence in their command why don’t the courts give them relief? This is the same party which said a few months ago that ₹800 crore had been kept by the BJP, they are breaking our party we have an audio tape… we are going to disclose it… but where is that audio tape?… This party has the track record of making the most number of lies and the most number of untruthful statements…”
BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa said that instead of creating a false narrative, Atishi should reveal the name of the person who approached her. “She (Atishi) should reveal the name of the person who approached her. After Arvind Kejriwal took their names (Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj) in the court, they have now realised that they have been trapped. It is Arvind Kejriwal, who has trapped you all. He has done this with several people earlier.”
Party leader and senior advocate Nalin Kohli said instead of implying allegations, the AAP minister should worry about herself as Kejriwal took their names and he might have some other plans in mind to remove these ministers.
Read here: AAP minister compares BJP’s rule with British Raj. ‘They scared us..’
“…Atishi must be worried that the Aam Aadmi Party supreme leader Arvind Kejriwal seems to have taken her name and Saurabh Bharadwaj’s name saying the middlemen used to meet them. If that is the case, their own leader is pointing a finger towards them. His two colleagues and other ministers are already in jail. He has already taken their resignation. Perhaps he has some other plans in mind to remove these ministers. But you just can’t turn around and attack the BJP on some false allegation or false narrative in the hope that the questions that are being asked will not be asked. Ultimately they have to answer on the scam which is the liquor scam in Delhi and on which the investigative agency obviously seems to have collected some credible material…”
These remarks came after Atishi made a big claim that after arresting Kejriwal, now the probe agency will arrest her, Saurabh Bharadwaj, Durgesh Pathak and Raghav Chadha.
“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 targeting the next line of the leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party,” Atishi said.
Atishi’s claims came a day after the ED took the name of Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj in the court and said Kejriwal told the agency that Vijay Nair — a key exponent of the alleged liquor scam — reported to Atishi and Saurabh.
The AAP convenor was arrested on March 21 in connection with the money laundering case linked with a liquor excise policy case. He was sent to judicial custody on April 1 till April 15.
(With inputs from agencies)