Arvind Kejriwal on Delhi liquor policy case: BJP wants to stop my Lok Sabha poll campaign by arresting me

Kejriwal said BJP, which runs the Centre but not in power in Delhi, wants to stop him from campaigning in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls by getting him arrested.

The Chief Minister, who is a staunch opponent of BJP, said the saffron brigade wants to bring an attack on his "asset" which is "honesty".

Kejriwal, who heads the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), said, "A lot of my party leaders have been arrested on fake charges. Anyone is picked up and sent to jail. It's an open goondaism.

"Now BJP wants to arrest me. My biggest asset is my honesty. BJP wants to defame me by making false allegations against me and attacking my honesty."

Stating his reason behind snubbing the summons thrice, Kejriwal said the notices sent to him were "illegal".

"I have received summons, which my lawyer has said are illegal. I have explained to ED how the summons are illegal but they haven't answered. This means they have no answer and also agree that the summons are illegal," Kejriwal said and added, "I will fully cooperate with legal summons."

"The summons have been sent before Lok Sabha polls because BJP doesn't want me to campaign in the elections," he said.

The speculation of Kejriwal's arrest kickstarted after Delhi minister Atishi posted on X, "News coming in that ED is going to raid @ArvindKejriwal’s residence tmrw morning. Arrest likely."

The security around Kejriwal's residence was beefed up following the minister's claim.

Now as per a report by NDTV, the ED is examining the reply sent by Kejriwal who on Wednesday snubbed the third summon sent to him by the probe agency.

The probe agency is investigating the Delhi excise policy which has handed over liquor shop licences to private players.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) alleges that liquor companies and middlemen were "actively involved in irregularities in the framing and implementation" of the excise policy.

Former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister and Kejriwal's colleague in the party, Manish Sisodia, is already in jail in the same case as the prime accused.

In April last year, the CBI questioned Kejriwal as a witness for nine hours, after which he slammed the agency.

"The CBI asked me 56 questions (but) everything is fake. I am convinced they don't have anything on us... not a single piece of evidence," he said after being quizzed at its Lodhi Road office.