Congress' Sandep Dikshit says Arvind Kejriwal must appear before ED like Congress leaders did

New Delhi [India], January 13 : Reacting to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit suggested that the AAP chief must present himself before the ED like Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi who went whenever the ED summoned them.
"He should go. Congress President Malikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi went whenever the ED summoned them. He should also go and put forward his views in front of the ED," Dikshit told ANI on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Delhi Minister Gopal Rai alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wants to prevent Arvind Kejriwal from campaigning for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
"Yesterday we announced the schedule of CM Arvind Kejriwal that he will visit Goa from January 18 to 20 in view of the Lok Sabha elections and today summon has been issued. This is not a coincidence. This is to prevent Arvind Kejriwal from campaigning for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections," Rai said.
He further said, "ED should avoid becoming a frontal organization of the BJP and should stop sending these illegal notices to Arvind Kejriwal."
Questioning the timing of the ED to issue the fourth summons to Delhi CM, the AAP leader Sushil Gupta asked the AAP chief going to Goa then why now the summons had been issued.
"CM Arvind Kejriwal announced that he is going to Goa to address a public meeting, and now the summon has been issued. It's nothing but to prevent Arvind Kejriwal from campaigning for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections," Gupta said.
Moreover, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma took a jibe at Delhi CM and indirectly asserted that the AAP chief would permanently go to jail.
"If you get four notices from ED and you are not going, this means you do not want to go temporarily but want to go permanently. Where he will go, he will go permanently," Biswa said.
The ED issued its fourth summons to the Delhi Chief Minister and asked to appear before the central probe agency on January 18.
Kejriwal, the national convener of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), is likely to be in Goa from January 18-20 to oversee the poll preparations.
The ED issued a third summons to CM Kejriwal on December 22 last year, in connection with the alleged Delhi liquor scam case, asking him to appear before the agency on January 3.
Delhi CM was earlier summoned by the ED in connection with an excise policy case on December 18, asking him to appear before the central agency for questioning on December 21.
The Delhi CM was first called by the central agency to appear on November 2, but he did not depose, alleging that the notice was "vague, motivated and unsustainable in law."