Social activist Anna Hazare expressed his disappointment regarding the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, stating that it was a consequence of his own actions.
“I am very upset that Arvind Kejriwal, who used to work with me and raised his voice against liquor, is now involved in making liquor policies. His arrest is because of his own deeds,” Hazare commented on Friday.
The Enforcement Directorate arrested Arvind Kejriwal in connection with the Delhi excise policy case, which already had two senior AAP leaders in judicial custody.
Arvind Kejriwal rose to prominence after joining the Anna movement in 2011, advocating against alleged corruption in the then Congress government. He later founded his own political party in 2012 and contested for the chief minister’s office.
In a recent development, Kejriwal withdrew his plea from the Supreme Court against his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate as it coincided with his remand. He had been issued nine summonses by the agency and the Delhi High Court, which had refused to grant him relief from coercive action.
The case revolves around alleged irregularities and money laundering related to the implementation of the Delhi excise policy in 2022, which was subsequently scrapped.
In Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister KP Maurya criticized the Congress, a partner of the AAP in the INDIA bloc, for supporting Arvind Kejriwal. He described the Congress as the “mother of corruption” and questioned the language used by its leader Rahul Gandhi. Maurya asserted that if the Enforcement Directorate was wrong, Kejriwal should have approached the court.
Kejriwal’s arrest comes amid ongoing investigations into money laundering charges linked to the excise policy. Earlier, Manish Sisodia, the former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister, and Sanjay Singh, a Rajya Sabha member, were also arrested in connection with the case.
Kejriwal’s arrest occurs ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, scheduled from April 19 to June 1, as announced by the Election Commission earliest his month.
