Kejriwal to skip ED summons? New CM for Delhi? BJP makes huge claims amid speculation of arrest

A political storm is brewing in the nation's capital as Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal faces an Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons related to the alleged liquor policy scam. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has made a bold claim, suggesting that Kejriwal may skip the ED questioning and, if arrested, plans to have his wife, Sunita Kejriwal, succeed him as the Chief Minister.

BJP general secretary Manjinder Singh Sirsa in his statement on Wednesday, asserted that a senior leader within the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had confided in him about Kejriwal's intentions. Sirsa alleged, "A senior AAP leader in confidence told me that Arvind Kejriwal Ji is planning to miss appearing before ED tomorrow. Kejriwal Ji knows he cannot answer ED’s questions. Kejriwal knows that in that case he would not remain the CM and will go to jail. Hence, he is creating an environment so that he can make his MLAs and party office bearers ask for Sunita Kejriwal Ji (wife of Arvind Kejriwal) as the next CM... Some MLAs are not ready to accept this, this is what a senior leader of AAP has told me."

Sirsa went on to criticise Kejriwal, stating, "Just imagine, those who entered politics to end 'parivarwaad,' corruption, and VIP culture... but now Kejriwal is doing all those things that he once wanted to end. That's why he will go to jail in the liquor scam."

A senior AAP leader in confidence told me that @ArvindKejriwal Ji is planning to miss appearing before ED tomorrow.

Kejriwal Ji knows he cannot answer ED’s questions. Hence, he is buying some time so that he can make his MLAs & party office bearers ask for Sunita Kejriwal Ji as… pic.twitter.com/nVeR46xZFP

— Manjinder Singh Sirsa (@mssirsa) November 1, 2023

Notably, the BJP's claim that Kejriwal may plan to have his wife, Sunita Kejriwal, succeed him as Chief Minister in the event of his arrest draws parallels to a historical political episode in India involving Rabri Devi. On July 25, 1997, Rabri Devi assumed the role of Bihar's first female Chief Minister, mirroring the situation where her husband, Lalu Prasad Yadav, had resigned following the issuance of an arrest warrant related to corruption charges associated with the Fodder scam.

BJP plans to arrest Kejriwal: AAP

In response to these allegations, the AAP has raised concerns about the ED's intentions, suggesting that the BJP is trying to eliminate their party by targeting its top leaders. Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, AAP leader Raghav Chadha claimed that the BJP intends to arrest Kejriwal.

"Now, after the formation of the INDIA alliance, the BJP is rattled. We have learned from sources that they have hatched a plan to target top leaders from the INDIA alliance. The first arrest in this plan will be of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal," Chadha said. He also added, "The BJP knows it is losing all the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi. It is planning to get Kejriwal arrested so that AAP is not able to contest the polls."

Notably, AAP leaders have consistently defended Kejriwal, portraying the ED summons as a ploy by the BJP government at the Centre to eliminate their party by sending the Chief Minister to jail in what they describe as a "fake" case.

The ED's investigation is linked to the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22, which was scrapped in July last year after a CBI probe was recommended by Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena. The CBI probe focused on alleged irregularities in the formulation and execution of the policy. Kejriwal's former deputy, Manish Sisodia, who was responsible for the excise department, was arrested by the CBI in February this year.