"Kejriwal has been playing victim card": BJP's Shehzad Poonwalla flays Delhi CM after arrest in liquor policy case

New Delhi [India], March 21 : After the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal in the excise policy case, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla lashed out at him saying the people voted him into power to make a better 'pathshala' (school) but he opened a 'madhushala' (liquor shop) instead.
"Kejriwal has been playing the victim card and has skipped nine summons of the ED," he said.
He claimed the Supreme Court has traced a money trail of Rs 338 crore in the liquor policy case.
Likening CM Kejriwal to former Bihar chief minister and RJD patriarch Lalu Yadav, Poonawalla said, "Walking in the footsteps of Lalu Prasad Yadav, he did not cooperate with the investigation and is now talking about running the government from jail."
"The Supreme Court has denied relief to Manish Sisodia. Still, they claim themselves to be honest. Sanjay Singh's bail plea was also denied by the high court. Vijay Nair (head of Communications, AAP) has also not been granted relief for a year," the BJP leader added.
Meanwhile, the other BJP leaders also came out in support of the ED action in light of Kejriwal's arrest in the excise policy case, saying that the "truth had to prevail".
The BJP's Delhu president Virendra Sachdeva said Kejriwal has been continuously making excuses for dodging summonses in the liquor policy case since 2020-21 and his "political theatrics ended today".
In a dramatic turn of events, barely hours after the high court refused to grant the AAP chief protection from coercive action in connection with the excise policy case, a team from the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) arrived at Kejriwal's residence for questioning. The team conducted a search operation at his residence, the sources said.
AAP workers staged a protest outside Kejriwal's residence over ED action.
Denying him interim protection from arrest in the liquor policy case, the Delhi HC ruled that, in this state, it was not inclined to do so.
The court passed down the directive during the hearing on a plea by the AAP supremo, urging coercive action against him in connection with the excise policy case.
ED had issued repeated summons to the AAP supremo in the excise policy case and he had skipped them, pointing out that the probe agency had moved the court against him.
According to the ED, the agency wants to record Kejriwal's statement in the case on issues like the formulation of now scrapped excise policy, meetings held before it was finalized, and allegations of bribery.
Two senior AAP leaders, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, are in judicial custody in the excise policy case. Sisodia, who was the then Delhi Deputy Chief Minister, was arrested by the CBI on February 26 following several rounds of questioning. On October 5, ED arrested Sanjay Singh, who is a Rajya Sabha member.