New Delhi: After Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Sunday, senior Congress leader Ajay Maken asked the party not to “support” the AAP convenor and “show no sympathy”.
Maken claimed that supporting him would “confuse” party cadres and “benefit” the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Besides this, he also urged lawyers and senior working committee members to refrain from representing Kejriwal or his government in court.
“I appeal to competent advocates and senior executive committee members, now steering committee members, to please refrain from representing Kejriwal or his government in court. While representing someone is within their professional purview, Kejriwal’s government and allies To do so is wrong.” message to our cadres and confuses them”, Maken said. “It ultimately benefits the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by dividing the votes of the Congress party,” Maken said in his tweet.
Maken’s remarks come a day after the Congress is taking on board other opposition parties to defeat the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Maken, a former Lok Sabha member, said there should be no sympathy or support for Kejriwal and his associates, who face serious corruption charges.
What did Maken say?
“I believe that no sympathy or support should be shown to individuals like Kejriwal and his associates who are facing serious charges of corruption,” Maken said on Twitter. There should be an inquiry and those found guilty should be punished.” He further said, “It is important for all political leaders, including the Indian National Congress (INC), to recognize that money obtained by Kejriwal through corrupt means has been used against the Congress party in several states including Punjab, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal.” Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Delhi.
Kejriwal founded the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in 2013 with the aim of fighting corruption following the Anna Hazare movement. The party promised to enact the Lokpal Bill, which was seen by opposition parties as a solution to corruption in the Congress party. However, Kejriwal dissolved his own government in February 2014, 40 days after coming to power, demanding a stronger Lokpal Bill, which was later made public.
Read also: Delhi Liquor Gate: CBI interrogated Arvind Kejriwal for nine hours, asked 56 questions. key points
CBI asked Kejriwal 56 questions
Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said that the CBI asked him about 56 questions on the excise policy matter and he answered all of them. Coming out after nearly nine hours of questioning by the CBI in connection with his government’s now-cancelled excise policy, Kejriwal hit out at the BJP, saying it wanted to finish AAP “but it will not happen”.
After questioning, he told the media at his residence, “I want to say that the whole issue of excise policy is false. They have no proof that you are wrong. This is the result of dirty politics.”
It has been alleged that the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22 for granting licenses to liquor traders favored some dealers who allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge strongly denied by the AAP. The policy was later repealed.
(with inputs from agencies)