New Delhi [India], March 27 : Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has slammed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is currently in ED custody, for skipping as many as nine summons by the central enforcement agency, in connection with the alleged scam linked to the now-withdrawn Delhi excise policy.
Speaking at the Times Now Summit 2024, Sitharaman said that when the Delhi CM skipped the ED summons that time, the excuse of "political vendetta" did not suit him.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Kejriwal on March 21 in connection with the Delhi Excise Policy case linked to a money laundering case.
He was on March 22 remanded to custody of the ED for seven days, that is, till March 28.
When asked about AAP's allegation that Kejriwal's arrest was a political vendetta, the Union Finance Minister said, "Eight Summons, you have one or the other reasons, then there you did not tell me that this is political vendetta."
"You said I have some other work. My assembly is on, budget session is on. I have a campaign to go somewhere. At that time political vendetta did not suit you," she said.
"Now political vendetta even when the court had said go appear," the Union Finance Minister said.
Further, referring to ED searches against some of the opposition leaders, including K Kavitha and Hemant Soren, Sitharaman added that the "caged parrot" is now doing its job.
When asked about the timing of ED raids on opposition leaders, the Union Finance Minister said, 'the law must take its own course' but this did not happen between 2004-2014.
"Every day there was a scandal happening. There were people from the government then who said 'caged parrot CBI'. It did do nothing. None of the law enforcement agencies did anything except go after Narendra Modi and Amit Shah who were the CM and the Home Minister of Gujarat at that time," Sitharaman said.
"So the caged parrot is now let to do its job and that is when there is no scandal in the government. So obviously, the caged parrot will not come to me. It will go where the scandal is and the scandal is galore there. Tell me one law enforcement visit which happened to anybody and where they have come back khaali hath?" she added.
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