Delhi Minister and AAP leader Aatishi accused the BJP of toppling the Delhi government in the absence of CM Arvind Kejriwal. Addressing a press conference, she said it is possible that in a few days ED may come to arrest me and other leaders, including Saurabh Bhardwaj.
She also made allegations that BJP contacted her through one of her close friend and asked her to join the BJP if she wanted to keep her relevance in politics. Atishi said that in the coming days Durgesh, Saurabh Bhardwaj, Raghav Chadha and myself will be in jail. In the coming days, raids will be conducted at my house, my relatives’ homes. After that, we will be sent summons, and then all four of us will be arrested. But we are disciples of Bhagat Singh, we are not afraid of these threats from the BJP. Each and every leader and workers is ready to serve the country.
AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj in a press conference said that what was shown on the Ramleela ground on March 31 has shocked the BJP. The big leaders of opposition parties in India were gathered on that platform. We had called all the leaders here by phone. The BJP feels that we have done everything. But this party is still standing.
BJP spokesperson Shahzad Poonawalla responded to AAP leader Atishi’s claims by stating that the courts have denied bail and relief to Arvind Kejriwal, Sanjay Singh, Vijay Nayar, and Manish Sisodia. He suggested that this is a politics of revenge, implying that the courts are working with a vengeful mindset. Does he mean that the courts are colluding with the BJP? Furthermore, he questioned why, if they have all the evidence, the courts are not granting them relief. This is the same party that claimed a few months ago that the BJP had offered them 800 crore rupees to break their party, and they were going to expose it with an audio tape. But where is that audio tape? This party has the highest track record of making false and dishonest statements.
Presented by the ED, ASG SV Raju stated that Arvind Kejriwal is not cooperating in the investigation and is attempting to mislead the investigation. Kejriwal has claimed that Vijay Nayar never reported to him. However, he used to report to Atishi and Saurabh Bhardwaj. It is noteworthy that when the ED was informing the court about this, Kejriwal did not even deny it and remained silent. During the Goa Legislative Assembly elections, Atishi also served as the in-charge of Goa. According to sources, the heat of this investigation could now reach Atishi and Saurabh Bhardwaj. In this situation, the question arises: who is Vijay Nayar, whose discussion has been buzzing loudly in the past few days? During the court hearing, the Enforcement Directorate claimed that Arvind Kejriwal admitted that Vijay Nayar did not directly report to him but rather to two leaders of his party, Atishi Marlena and Saurabh Bharadwaj. If it is proven that Vijay Nayar was indeed in direct communication with Atishi Marlena and Saurabh Bharadwaj instead of Kejriwal, then the investigation may shift towards these two leaders. This may not clear Arvind Kejriwal of any wrongdoing, but it certainly increases the likelihood of inquiries into these two AAP leaders.
Since Vijay Nayar is accused of engaging in transactions worth millions of rupees with liquor trader Sameer Mahendru through a close associate, this case could also implicate Atishi Marlena and Saurabh Bharadwaj.
This could lead to the Enforcement Directorate tightening its grip on these two leaders as well. In this case, another minister of the Delhi government, Kailash Gehlot, has also been questioned. This means that the possibility of several senior AAP leaders being implicated in this case is increasing, one after the other.