Advised to join BJP or prepare to face jail, claims AAP’s Atishi

मुझे बताया गया, मेरे घर ED Raid होगी, मेरे परिवार वालों और रिश्तेदारों के घर ED Raid होगी।

फिर हम सबको Summons भेजे जाएंगे, और Summons के बाद हमें गिरफ्तार किया जाएगा।

मैं BJP को बता दूं, हम नहीं डरते।
Kejriwal के सिपाही हैं, और संविधान को बचाने के लिए, लोकतंत्र को बचाने के… pic.twitter.com/77M0sWGktR

— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) April 2, 2024

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‘ED will conduct raids’

Atishi further claimed that she had been told that the ED would conduct raids at her residence and that of her kin in the coming days. After that, the summons would be sent and arrests would be made, she claimed.

There is no reason for Arvind Kejriwal to resign as chief minister because he has neither been charge-sheeted nor convicted in the excise policy case. Moreover, he enjoys an “overwhelming majority in the Delhi Assembly, she said.

If he resigns from the chief minister post, it will become a “simple and straight standard operating procedure” for the BJP to topple governments by sending chief ministers behind bars in false cases, Atishi asserted.

“The BJP has realised that sending only Kejriwal to jail would not lead to the disintegration of the AAP and now it aims to get four second-line leaders of the party, including me, Saurabh Bharadwaj, Raghav Chadha and Durgesh Pathak, arrested,” she said.

“I was approached by the BJP through a person very close to me who asked me to join the BJP to save and enhance my political career. Or I will be arrested within a month.”

Atishi claimed the BJP has been rattled by the success of the INDIA bloc’s Ramlila Maidan rally on Sunday and by the AAP’s protests against Kejriwal’s arrest.

“The BJP hoped AAP would disintegrate after the arrest of its top leaders — Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh and Satyendar Jain. But now it feels that the next top four leaders need to be sent to jail,” she said.

“I want to tell the BJP that we are not going to be scared by your threats. We are soldiers of Kejriwal and disciples of Bhagat Singh. We will fight to save the country and for the betterment of the people till the last AAP volunteer,” she asserted.

Also Read: BRS chief KCR condemns Kejriwal’s arrest, calls it a ‘dark day’

‘Open threat’

Bharadwaj termed the “offer” to Atishi to join the BJP or get arrested an “open threat. “Despite the arrest of four leaders, including Kejriwal, the AAP is surviving. So now they want to send the next line of leaders (to jail). The first would be me, next Atishi and then Raghav Chadha and Durgesh Pathak.”

He asserted that the AAP has had organic growth and the BJP should not be under the illusion that the party will fall to pieces with the arrest of its top leader. “The BJP wants to win over 400 Lok Sabha seats in the coming polls by sending people to jail,” he charged.

Reacting to the AAP leaders’ remarks, the Delhi BJP chief said, “Since Kejriwal has stated that excise policy case accused and AAP leader Vijay Nair, who is in jail, used to report to Atishi and Bharadwaj, the AAP leaders are fighting among them. Atishi by saving her skin has led Chadha and Pathak in trouble.”

Bharadwaj said Nair had given his statement one and half years ago and the BJP leaders were “using” it now which showed the party’s “absurd political strategy”.

Kejriwal, arrested on 21 March by the ED in connection with a money laundering case linked to the now-scrapped excise policy of his government, was on Monday sent to judicial custody till 15 April by a city court.

The AAP has accused the BJP of wanting to impose President’s rule in Delhi by poaching its legislators and breaking the party. The AAP’s Kirari MLA Rituraj Jha claimed he was offered ₹25 crore to join the saffron party.

(Disclaimer: The headline, subheads, and intro of this report along with the photos may have been reworked by South First. The rest of the content is from a syndicated feed, and has been edited for style.)