Cases against AAP leaders 'political vendetta': Kejriwal

NEW DELHI: A day after raids at the premises of Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot, Chief Minister Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said that due to 'political vendetta', false and baseless cases were filed against his party leaders by misusing enforcement agencies.

Kejriwal, in his official Twitter handle, stated, "This shows that completely false n baseless cases have been filed against AAP leaders all across India due to political vendetta. All cases are being dismissed by courts. These cases show how police n enforcement agencies are being blatantly misused by every party in power."

The AAP national convenor's tweet was in reference to another tweet by the Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly Harpal Singh Cheema, who stated that AAP MLA Naresh Yadav was acquitted of sedition charges by a sessions court in Sangrur district.

Yadav had been charged under section 124A of the Indian Penal Code in the Malerkotla sacrilege case, and now the chief judicial magistrate trial will take its course.

Sources in AAP said that it gets a notice from the Income Tax Department almost every month against its leaders. They also alleged that the main reason behind such measures is just to create a negative image of the party in the minds of people.

However, in most such cases, the allegations have not held their ground and there has been not a single case where any penalty as per law was imposed on the party members and its policy makers.

It may be mentioned that on Wednesday, Kejriwal attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the Income Tax Department carried out raids at different locations linked to Kailash Gahlot.

Kejriwal also asked the PM to apologise to the people of Delhi for constantly troubling the Government elected by them. He also accused the BJP-led Centre of unleashing central agencies against AAP to 'intimidate' the party.