CM Kejriwal’s comments come at a time he has been asked to join the Delhi Police probe into the said allegations of BJP attempted to poach AAP MLAs. He is also facing summons from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in an excise policy linked money laundering case.
Assuring the crowd that the development work will not stop even if he gets arrested, CM Kejriwal expressed his discontent with the central agencies such as the ED and CBI being deployed against his colleagues. “Manish Sisodia was put in jail because he built schools. Satyendar Jain was sent to jail because he built Mohalla clinics. But even if you put Kejriwal in jail, the works of building schools and Mohalla clinics and providing free treatment to the people of Delhi will not stop. BJP wants us to join their party but we will not bow down,” he asserted.
“They can hatch any conspiracy against us but nothing is going to happen. I am standing firm against them and I am not going to bow down. They say, ‘come and join BJP and we will leave you alone’. But I will never join BJP. Why should we join BJP? If you join BJP, all sins are forgiven,” Kejriwal said.
The Crime Branch of Delhi Police issued a fresh notice to CM Kejriwal, urging him to provide evidence by Monday to support his claims of poaching attempts by BJP. The notice, also served to Delhi education minister Atishi, set a three-day response deadline for her in the poaching case.
The letter, signed by Pankaj Arora, ACP of Central Range Crime, stated, “An inquiry is being conducted by the Crime Branch of Delhi police, on a complaint received in respect of the allegations made by you that the BJP has offered Rs 25 crore each to the sitting MLAs of AAP for leaving the party and joining the BJP. These allegations were posted by you on X on January 27, 2024.”
“The Crime Branch has written in the notice that from your tweet it appears that you have evidence and information related to a cognizable crime, please submit the information and answers to the Crime Branch by February 5.” the letter added.
Earlier, a Crime Branch team visited Atishi’s residence regarding her assertion of BJP’s attempts to lure AAP MLAs with cash incentives as part of ‘Operation Lotus 2.0.’
Kejriwal on Sunday was speaking at the inauguration of one of the schools, where he laid the foundation stone along with colleague Atishi. “When we go to inaugurate schools, mohalla clinics, and hospitals, people from other parties reach there to raise slogans against us. Today is an auspicious day because four schools are being inaugurated. ‘Aaj toh kam se kam yeh gandi rajniti na karo‘ (Don’t do such dirty politics today).”
“You must have read in the newspapers that the Central Government is spending 4 cents of the budget on schools and hospitals across the country. The Delhi government has been spending 40 per cent on schools and hospitals for the last eight years,” he said.
Delhi crime branch at Arvind Kejriwal’s residence to serve notice again, CM says ‘high-end drama’
Reflecting on the transformative journey, Kejriwal said, “There was absolutely zero education in government schools. Today, there is such a huge gathering in the inauguration of four government schools, which means that people are still hopeful that their children will get a good education,” he said. “Today the infrastructure, teachers and results of government schools are better than private schools. Today, education arrangements for 10,000 children are being made in these four schools. These schools will be ready in a year; their foundation is being laid today,” he said.
“Now we have made a map of the entire Delhi. There are many areas in Delhi where there is a shortage of schools. We have made a list of such areas and schools are being built in there so that arrangements can be made for the education of the poor,” CM Kejriwal added.
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Later in a post on X, Kejriwal asserted that all cases against AAP leaders were false. “If we had done something wrong, we would have joined BJP like others who got their cases closed. When we have not done anything wrong, why should we join BJP? All the cases filed against us are false. If not today, tomorrow, all the cases will end,” he said in the post in Hindi.
Kejriwal has skipped five summonses issued by ED for questioning him in the excise policy linked money laundering case. While BJP has questioned his decision to skip the notices, AAP has alleged that it is a conspiracy to arrest Kejriwal ahead of the Lok Sabha elections to stop him from campaigning.
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