New Delhi: In a fiery press conference held at the AAP headquarters, senior AAP leader and Cabinet minister, Saurabh Bharadwaj, vehemently condemned the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, labelling it a deliberate attempt to muzzle the country’s most prominent opposition voice during the crucial Lok Sabha elections.
“If Arvind Kejriwal was out, he would have campaigned for INDIA Alliance across the country,” Bharadwaj asserted, underscoring the strategic timing of Kejriwal’s arrest and its potential impact on the ongoing electoral process.
Highlighting the alleged failure of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to produce any substantial evidence against Kejriwal despite a two-year investigation, Bharadwaj accused the agencies of resorting to
unethical tactics to incriminate the AAP leader.
“If CBI and ED got 1 lakh pages of documents and 80,000 of them are in favour of Arvind Kejriwal and AAP, then those 80,000 documents were not presented before the court,” Bharadwaj stated, emphasising the selective presentation of evidence to sway legal proceedings.
Bharadwaj further asserted that the arrest of Kejriwal not only infringed upon the
principles of democracy but also violated the constitutional guarantee of equal rights
for all citizens.
“The Constitution has not given this right to ED and CBI,” he remarked, emphasising the agencies’ obligation to present all relevant facts impartially before the court.
Accusing the BJP-led central government of orchestrating a conspiracy to stifle opposition voices, Bharadwaj contended that Kejriwal’s incarceration was a calculated move to thwart AAP’s campaign efforts and weaken the broader opposition front.
“By putting such a leader in jail just before the elections, a conspiracy has been hatched by the BJP-ruled Central government to weaken the voice of the opposition,” Bharadwaj concluded, underscoring the pivotal role Kejriwal plays as a vocal critic of the ruling establishment.
As the legal battle unfolds, with Kejriwal challenging his arrest in the Supreme Court, the AAP remains resolute in its commitment to safeguarding democratic principles and ensuring a level playing field in the electoral arena.