Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri (File).
New Delhi:
Union Minister Hardeep Puri has labelled Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal “shameless” for continuing in the post despite his arrest in the alleged liquor policy scam, which has roiled the Aam Aadmi Party, and the opposition INDIA bloc, weeks before the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
While the AAP alleged a political conspiracy to destroy AAP governments in Delhi and Punjab, the BJP said the ruling party in the national capital “stands exposed” and that Mr Kejriwal is the “kingpin”.
The sharp attack came shortly after the Delhi High Court quashed a petition by Mr Kejriwal challenging his arrest on March 21. The AAP boss’ home was raided, and he was taken into custody, by the Enforcement Directorate hours after the court refused him protection from arrest.
“I am not an expert on the Constitution… so I can’t tell you if he should continue or not. But, as somebody who has put in 50 years of public service, I think this is the height of shamelessness. After being arrested… after being in Tihar Jail… he hasn’t resigned. I think it is entirely shameless.”
READ | Arvind Kejriwal To Stay In Jail, Petition Against Arrest Rejected
“If anyone has any shame and responds to normal standards of political decency… they should put in their resignation straightaway, so someone else can run the (Delhi) government,” he told NDTV.
“The government cannot be run from behind bars,” he declared, hitting out at the AAP’s insistence that Mr Kejriwal will not resign and will continue to run the Delhi government from Tihar Jail.
The Chief Minister has passed two ‘orders’ since his incarceration in Tihar – one to Health Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj and another to Public Works Minister Atishi. Both were denounced by the BJP, which has questioned the constitutional propriety of a chief minister issuing instructions from jail.
READ | Kejriwal’s 2nd Order As AAP Sends A “Government-From-Jail” Message
The BJP has repeatedly called on Mr Kejriwal to resign. Last month, in the days following his arrest, there were mass protests on Delhi’s streets by BJP workers demanding the AAP leader quit.
“The Chief Minister should resign… there are almost a dozen corruption allegations against him…” the BJP’s Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, also the Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, said.
There have also been PILs, or public interest litigations, filed before the Delhi High Court seeking directions to Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, and/or the centre, to order Mr Kejriwal to resign.
READ | “Let Democracy Take Its Course”: Plea To Remove Kejriwal Rejected
The High Court, though, has junked all such pleas. In a significant observation, a bench led by acting Chief Justice Manmohan said “let democracy take its own course”.
Meanwhile, speaking to NDTV this evening, Mr Puri hailed Delhi High Court Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma’s “unsparing” ruling on Arvind Kejriwal’s plea challenging the ED’s arrest.
“AAP was questioning arrest of Mr Kejriwal… but the learned judge was unsparing in her reply. She said Mr Kejriwal, both in his individual capacity and as Convenor of the party, was complicit. He participated in the formulation of the (now-scrapped) liquor policy,” he thundered
To the AAP’s argument – that Mr Kejriwal’s arrest is a measure to disrupt the party’s election campaign – Mr Puri responded, “Elections do not give you immunity from arrest. He was given nine opportunities to respond (Mr Kejriwal skipped nine summons from the probe agency). He could have gone after the first summons… put down the facts and that would have been the end of the story.”
“The point is the court said the ED produced evidence, and that the arrest is in order,” he said.
READ | Kejriwal Lodged In 14×8 Feet Cell. See What Court Has Allowed
After the court upheld the ED’s arrest, Mr Kejriwal will now remain in Tihar Jail till April 15.
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