Kejriwal’s arrest will benefit AAP electorally, says Atishi

PTI, Mar 28, 2024, 10:02 AM IST

Delhi minister Atishi on Wednesday said the arrest of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will benefit the AAP electorally in the Lok Sabha polls as the party is getting a lot of sympathy.

In an interview with PTI, Atishi termed the arrest of Kejriwal by the Enforcement Directorate in an excise policy-linked money laundering case as an attack on democracy that was ”never seen before” in the democratic history of the country.

“The good thing is that it has benefited us electorally,” she said, adding before the arrest of Kejriwal, the result of Lok Sabha polls was a forgone conclusion as people were of the view that the BJP was going to win.

“But after Kejriwal’s arrest, the level of public sympathy has gone up for us. There is just one sentiment that the BJP has gone one step too far. So, I would feel it has benefitted us electorally,” Atishi told PTI.

She said the upcoming Lok Sabha polls have become a ‘People vs BJP’ election.

“This election has become a very different kind of election. This is no longer an ‘AAP vs BJP’ or ‘INDIA bloc vs BJP’ election. After the arrest of Kejriwal, this is a ‘People vs BJP’ election,” she said.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on March 21 in the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case and subsequently remanded in the agency’s custody till March 28 by a court here.

Asked how the party will run its campaign for the Lok Sabha polls in Kejriwal’s absence, Atishi said the current situation was not just about the AAP but other opposition parties as well.

How can free and fair elections be held in the country when the BJP is attacking the opposition parties, she said.

“After the announcement of the general elections, you (BJP) pick up one of the most prominent opposition leaders, you have the office of a political party sealed, and you have the bank accounts of a political party frozen,” Atishi said, referring to Kejriwal’s arrest, the alleged sealing of the AAP office in Delhi and the Congress’ allegation that its bank accounts were frozen.

“So, if you are not going to let the opposition parties contest the elections, what kind of a free and fair election will there be… what type of democracy is there in the country,” she said.

Atishi, the minister with the maximum number of portfolios in the Delhi government, said the Delhi chief minister’s arrest was an attack on democracy and unheard of in the history of democratic India.

“This is the kind of thing you hear happening in Bangladesh after the announcement of elections, all opposition leaders are sent to jail. We heard recently in Pakistan that all leaders of Imran Khan’s party were put in jail before the elections. This is something that happens in far-flung African countries like North Sudan where the party in power puts all opposition leaders in jail and then elections happen,” she said.

The prevailing situation raises “very serious questions” regarding the democratic institutions in the country, all constitutional offices, and whether there are going to be free and fair elections in the country, she said.

Atishi claimed that the people were witnessing an “erosion” of democratic institutions of the country that has been building up over the last two years.

“The arrest of Kejriwal and AAP leaders and workers protesting against it — all these circumstances are also making the people of the country realise that something is very seriously wrong with what is going on,” she said.

Atishi slammed the arrest of top AAP leaders, saying the Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation, despite their two-year probe, failed to find even a single rupee of ill-gotten wealth in the alleged excise policy scam.

“There is no corrupt money, no proceeds of crime that have come to the AAP. Instead, a liquor retailer paid Rs 60 crore to the BJP through electoral bonds,” she said.

“The BJP would be an accused in the excise policy matter and (party chief) J P Nadda and not Arvind Kejriwal would be in jail had there been an independent investigation,” she claimed.

She said an attempt was being made by the BJP to keep Kejriwal behind bars before the Lok Sabha polls as “Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not want free and fair elections in the country.

She further claimed that institutions like the ED, CBI, and Income Tax Department were being used to finish the opposition parties in the country, saying the AAP was seeking an appointment with the Election Commission for days but it was not materialising.

She also charged that the Delhi Police was not giving permission to the Aam Aadmi Party to hold a rally of Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) leaders at the Ramleela grounds on March 31