Setting off fresh sparring between Centre, AAP; ED arrests Sanjay Singh in excise case

New Delhi [India], October 4 (ANI): Setting off a fresh round of political slugfest between the BJP-led Centre and the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday arrested party leader Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh in connection with the liquor policy case.
Singh was taken into custody from his residence after a day-long interrogation by ED officials. The AAP leader was escorted by the ED officials amid lusty sloganeering from his party supporters, who had gathered to protest the action by the agency.
The arrest drew a scathing response from Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal.
The CM, in a no-holds-barred attack on the BJP-led Centre, said it has brought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "frustrations" to the fore.
He informed further that the ruling party in the national capital will mount a legal challenge against Singh's arrest.
The AAP national convenor, who visited Singh's family members at his Delhi residence on Wednesday, claimed that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) found nothing during a search of his address but still placed him under arrest.
"The ED officials searched his entire house but found nothing. However, they still put him under arrest in the evening. The arrest shows PM Modi's growing desperation and frustration as the elections are drawing near. The coming together of the Opposition forces under the INDIA bloc has got him rattled. Sanjay's arrest has only bared PM Modi's frustrations," Kejriwal told reporters after meeting the AAP leader's kin on Wednesday.
Alleging that PM Modi was steeped in corruption from head to toe, the Delhi CM said Sanjay Singh was among the most vocal of the Opposition leaders when it came to highlighting PM Modi's "corruption" and this was the reason why he was suspended from the Rajya Sabha and arrested.
"Ours is a party that doesn't compromise on honesty. However, the path of honesty, as we all know, could be difficult. If we were dishonest like them, all our problems would have gone away. More than 1,000 raids have been conducted in connection with the liquor policy case and several people have been arrested. But they have not been able to recover even a single penny (allegedly laundered). PM Modi is steeped in corruption from head to toe and I don't think there's been a PM more corrupt than him since independence," Kejriwal said.
"Sanjay Singh never shied away when it came to raising his voice against PM Modi's corruption and this is precisely why he was first suspended from the Rajya Sabha and now arrested. I fear that many more leaders could be arrested before the next Lok Sabha elections. However, Sanjay Singh is a fighter and he will soldier on undaunted. We move court against his arrest," the Delhi CM said.
Apart from it, addressing a press conference in the national capital with fellow AAP leaders Atishi and Priyanka Kakkar, Bhardwaj accused the BJP-led regime of unleashing the central agencies on Opposition leaders.
"Sanjay Singh was arrested without a shred of evidence or reason. This is nothing but an act of desperation. It only goes to show that Prime Minister Modi knows that he is losing the upcoming elections. It is the BJP's desperation and fear of loss that are prompting it to unleash the central agencies on Opposition leaders," Bhardwaj said.
"People have made up their minds to throw out the BJP in the poll-bound states. Leaders are often drawn to such desperate actions when they sense that they are losing their hold on power," the AAP leader added.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Meenakashi Lekhi said that the arrest of AAP leader Sanjay Singh in connection with the Delhi liquor policy case is part of a continuing effort towards building a 'Bhrashtachaar Mukt Bharat' (corruption-free India).
While saying that the Opposition leaders have come to power for the welfare of the families or political dynasties that they represent, the Union minister said that it was the PM Modi-led government that took the pledge 'Naa Khaunga, Na Khane Dunga' (will neither take bribes nor let others take it).
"The Opposition works for the welfare of their own dynasties. It is the Modi government that took the pledge 'Naa Khaunga, Na Khane Dunga'. This is an effort towards building a corruption-free India."
"The probe agencies of the country were founded by the law of the land, in a bid to root out corruption. We did not tell them (Opposition leaders) to be corrupt. If they have indulged in corruption, an investigation will follow and action will be taken," Lekhi told reporters.
Singh's was the second high-profile arrest in the case after former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia.
Sisodia was arrested by the CBI on February 26 for his alleged role in the scam.
The central probe agency on Wednesday morning raided the residence of Sanjay Singh in connection with the now-cancelled liquor excise policy in Delhi. The development followed ED's raid on the premises of Sanjay Singh's close aides.
The Delhi excise policy case pertains to allegations that the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22 allowed cartelisation and favoured certain dealers who had allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge that has been strongly refuted by the AAP.
ED has so far filed five chargesheets in the case, including against Sisodia. (ANI)