Delhi BJP protests against liquor scam near Rajya Sabha

Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva accuses AAP of taking Rs 100 crore kickback

New Delhi:

Delhi BJP leaders staged a protest near Rajghat on Saturday demanding the resignation of Arvind Kejriwal, who is currently in ED custody, and claimed that the AAP was playing the “victim card” to prove its case clean.

The demand came after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday night in a money laundering case related to the excise tax policy.

The BJP leader on Saturday paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at the Rajah and sang “Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram” and pledged to fight corruption.

“We, the BJP workers, take an oath that we will always fight corruption first and always work against it,” they promised.

Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva accused the Aam Aadmi Party of taking Rs 100-crore kickback in the alleged GST policy scam and accused Kejriwal of ignoring several appearance notices from the education ministry.

“…Since November 2, the Education Bureau has been sending notices, but they have ignored them. When it came to court, even the court completely refused and mentioned participating in the investigation. Arvind Kejriwal claimed that there was no fraud, so he must respond, Why was Rs 100 crore taken away?” Mr Sachdeva said.

Mr. Sachdeva accused Kejriwal of instigating drunkenness in the city by distributing free alcohol under the previous excise policy.

Congress MP Harsh Vardhan, who was recently denied a vote by the BJP, said the party will continue to fight corruption in the Kejriwal government and vowed to do so at Rajgir.

“Those who take false oaths to their children, they are mired in corruption. But Kejriwal, who deceived the people of Delhi, must also understand that those who put you in power can also depose you,” Harsh Vardhan said.

“From social media to media, they have been making new dramas for the last two years. The deputy chief minister and a Congress MP are in jail and even after the ED issued nine summons, why is he (Kejriwal) not appearing in the court In front of you?” ED? If you are honest then why are you afraid of the investigation? ” he added.

Manoj Tiwari, MP from northeast Delhi, said the AAP deserves a book titled: “Journey!” From Swaraj to Alcohol. Later in the press conference, Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party Secretary Bansuri Swaraj read out a statement issued by Kejriwal earlier in the day on his wife Sunita Kejriwal posted a comment.

“But Arvind Kejriwal himself is responsible. He used the Rs 100-crore kickback he got from the liquor scam to cater the party and according to the CAG report, there is a tax payer of Rs 100-crore Money was swindled,” she said.

Mr. Sachdeva claimed at the same press conference that the “anarchist” AAP was once again playing the “victim card” on stage by concocting a false narrative of innocence and claiming that there was no corruption in the now-defunct GST policy .

“The AAP would like us to believe that they are the sole guardians of truth and justice and that they have the responsibility to decide who should go to jail and who should roam free. But AAP leaders should not forget this inconvenient fact – this is the court, and Not a court. Their kangaroo courts have the power to deliver justice,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Atishi had claimed at a press conference that the education ministry had failed to provide any evidence against the AAP leader in the so-called GST policy case.

Instead, she claimed that money traces and proceeds of crime showed that the BJP received crores of rupees through electoral bonds from a businessman who is also an accused in the excise case.

Mr. Sachdeva asked the AAP to come up with evidence to prove that it had not committed any wrongdoing in its policies.

“If they really believed your leaders were innocent, why didn’t they present evidence in court? Are they afraid of being scrutinized by the legal system of evidence and due process?” he asked.

The Delhi Chief Minister has been remanded to emergency custody by the court till March 28.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)