‘No Moral Right To Hold Office’: Congress, BJP Demand Kejriwal’s Resignation Over Delhi Liquor Policy Scam
HOURS after BJP MLAs staged a massive protest outside Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence demanding his resignation over the allegations of corruption in the Delhi Excise Policy, the Congress has also demanded the resignation of the Aam Aadi Party (AAP) chief on Saturday. The Grand Old Party said that the Delhi CM has no moral right to be in office as the Enforcement Directorate has “clearly indicted” him in the excise scam.
Congress leader and former Union Minister Ajay Maken said that a Rs 100 crore kickback has been established against AAP leader Kejriwal and his other minister in the scam, and a PMLA court took cognisance of the chargesheet and has allowed that charges be framed against all the accused.
“The Indian National Congress demands the immediate resignation of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, along with the indicted ministers Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain,” Maken told reporters, as quoted by news agency PTI.
He also stressed the money trail mentioned in the chargesheet, which led to the advertisements in the Goa elections and the cash payments to the volunteers to carry out surveys.
The Congress leader said that one sees a “Kejriwal versus Delhi LG” every day in special sessions of the Delhi Legislative Assembly, in courts, and on the streets.
“But have we ever seen Kejriwal or the AAP protesting for Lokpal? In 2014, Kejriwal asked for the dissolution of the Delhi Assembly in favour of passing the Lokpal Bill. Where is that Bill now?” he asked.
“The Kejriwal government has ensured that even a weak Lokayukta is non-functional in Delhi,” the Congress leader alleged.
He also questioned why, despite being approved by the Lieutenant Governor, the annual reports of the Lokayuta have not been tabled since 2017–18.
“Ever since Kejriwal came to power, the Lokayaukta, in its reports, has been flagging various debilitating constraints being faced by it in terms of its independence, lack of powers, compromised financial autonomy, or non-availability of any machinery for conducting investigations, but all in vain,” he told the media.
Earlier, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) stated in its chargesheet that the probe into the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) done so far had revealed that the Delhi Excise Policy, 2021–2022, was created by the top leaders of the AAP to continuously generate and channel illegal funds for themselves. It has also accused the AAP of using the funds for the Goa election.
