Liquor scam: BJP stages massive protest, demands Arvind Kejriwal’s resignation

Delhi BJP leaders and workers on Saturday staged a protest at the AAP office in the national capital, demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal after the ED named him in a charge sheet in the excise scam case.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has named Kejriwal in its charge sheet related to the liquor scam of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government and he should resign from the post of chief minister of Delhi, state BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said.

The BJP will keep on exposing the “corruption” of the Delhi government which is weakening Delhi like a “termite”, Sachdeva alleged during the protest. “If he has any morality left in him, Kejriwal should resign now,” Sachdeva said.

On the other hand, leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, alleged that the liquor scam happened under the protection of Kejriwal.

The ED has claimed in its supplementary charge sheet filed in the court that a part of the alleged Rs 100 crore “kickbacks” generated in the scrapped Delhi excise policy was used in the AAP’s 2022 Goa assembly election campaign.

The policy was withdrawn last year by the Kerjiwal government after a CBI probe was ordered by Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, a representative of the BJP-led government at the centre.

Notably, a court on Thursday accepted the supplementary charge sheet against five individuals and seven companies in connection with alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy.

Kejriwal has dismissed the ED charge sheet, alleging that cases filed by the agency are “fake” and are used to “topple” governments and buy MLAs at the behest of the Centre.

No weekly meeting between L-G and CM

Meanwhile, the weekly meeting between Delhi Lieutenant Governor and Kejriwal could not take place as the two sides were engaged in a tussle over governance-related issues. Sources at the LG’s office said Kejriwal did not turn up at the Raj Niwas for the meeting scheduled at 4 pm and no reason was given by his office in this regard. An official at the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) confirmed that the meeting did not take place, without giving any reason for it. With the ruling AAP, slamming Saxena over a range of issues, including a proposal to send school teachers for training to Finland, the weekly meetings between the two constitutional functionaries have not been taking place for several weeks.

-INDIA NEWS STREAM