City Briefs
Ex-AAP leaders Yogendra, Bhushan come out in support of Kejriwal
New Delhi: Some former AAP leaders, who fell out of favour with party supremo Arvind Kejriwal over the years, came out in his support on Friday, claiming that a sitting chief minister’s arrest before the Lok Sabha elections “without evidence” is akin to “murder of democracy”. However, former tourism minister in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, who is now a vice-president in the Delhi BJP, Kapil Mishra described Kejriwal’s arrest as a “joyous day” for the residents of the national Capital. Political activist and founder of Swaraj India Yogendra Yadav, who was removed from the AAP in 2015 by its disciplinary committee, termed Kejriwal’s arrest as “unjust”. “I am astonished. What is going on in this country in the name of democracy? You change the referee before the match by appointing new ECs (election commissioners). You are freezing the bank accounts of opponent. Notices have been given in 30-year-old cases. Do proper investigation. If court convicts, then be it PM (prime minister) or anybody else, they should be punished,” he said. Opposition parties, including the Congress, the RJD and the TMC, have been attacking the BJP-led central government over the AAP leader’s arrest. On Kejriwal’s arrest, Bhushan claimed that there was “no documentary evidence” with the ED against the chief minister.
BJP alleges AAP’s ‘dirty politics’ amid CM Kejriwal’s arrest
NEW DELHI: Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders asserted that Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has been exposed of engaging in “dirty politics” during a Friday press conference.The conference was attended by Member of Parliament Manoj Tiwari, New Delhi BJP Lok Sabha candidate Bansuri Swaraj, and Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva. “Delhi has witnessed the Aam Aadmi Party consistently violating the Constitution and the law to conceal their corruption, but this has all been exposed with the Court sending CM Kejriwal to ED custody for one week. Today after the 10th summons, with Kejriwal’s arrest by the ED, even AAP MLAs, corporation councillors, and his close associates are not supporting him,” stated Sachdeva. Bansuri Swaraj remarked, “Since November, investigating agencies have alleged that Rs 100 crore was used by the Kick Back Party for its political activities, with Arvind Kejriwal, as the party head, being the ultimate beneficiary of the liquor scam. Kejriwal has been evading legal accountability for the past two years, but now he must realise that the law has caught up with him. Justice will prevail soon, and he will face consequences.”
