Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday claimed that the Enforcement Directorate is planning to arrest Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain ahead of the Assembly elections in Punjab. The AAP is one of the main contenders in the upcoming polls that will be held on February 20.
“From our sources we have got to know that right before Punjab polls in coming few days the ED is going to arrest Satyendar Jain,” Kejriwal said at a media briefing. “They are most welcome.”
Kejriwal alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party uses central agencies against its political rivals whenever it senses electoral loss. “Since there are elections, raids and arrests will be made,” said the Delhi chief minister. “We do not fear such raids and arrests because we have done nothing wrong.”
The AAP chief said the central agencies found nothing when they raided Jain twice before. “Now if they want to come again, they are welcome,” he added. “In this case too, maximum Satyendar Jain will be arrested and then will get bail in a few days. We are not scared to be arrested.”
Kejriwal added that the central agencies were welcome to raid Jain, him, Delhi minister Manish Sisodia and even AAP’s Punjab chief ministerial candidate Bhagwat Mann.
Jain also said that he was ready to be arrested. “They are welcome to come whenever they want,” he said, according to ANI. “Even before this, they have raided me twice but all in vain.”
In 2018, the Central Bureau of Investigation had filed a case against Jain in connection with alleged irregularities in the hiring of a creative team for the Public Works Department. Jain at that time used to hold the PWD portfolio, among others, in the Delhi Cabinet.
Kejriwal also took a dig at Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi who has threatened to file a defamation case against him for remarks on the Enforcement Directorate raids in the state.
“…We won’t whine like Charanjit Singh Channi because we have not done anything wrong,” said Kejriwal. “Channiji is distraught because he has something to hide. People now know what he has done in 111 days.”
The AAP has been criticising Channi following raids on his nephew Bhupinder Singh Honey in a money laundering case on January 18. The next day, Kejriwal had remarked that the Punjab chief minister “is not an ordinary man, but a dishonest man”.
Channi said on Friday that the Delhi chief minister had crossed all limits and that he had asked for Congress’ permission to file a defamation case against Kejriwal.
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