The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has announced plans to stage a protest outside the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Headquarters in Delhi on February 2, alleging rigging in the Chandigarh mayoral election. The protest is expected to be attended by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. The move comes as Kejriwal faces a fifth summon from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money laundering probe related to irregularities in the Delhi excise policy for the year 2021-22.
The ED's summon has asked Kejriwal to join the investigation on February 2. The Delhi CM has previously skipped four summonses from the central agency, labeling them "illegal and politically motivated." He has accused the ED of intending to arrest him and disrupt his election campaigning.
The allegations against Kejriwal are based on an FIR (First Information Report) that claims multiple irregularities in the formation and implementation of the Delhi excise policy (2021-22). This policy, introduced by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), aimed to revitalize the city's liquor business, replacing a sales-volume-based regime with a license fee for traders. However, the policy faced criticism and was withdrawn after corruption allegations.
In response to the summons, Kejriwal declared, "All four notices sent to me (by the ED) are illegal and invalid in the eyes of the law." He argued that similar notices in the past had been quashed by courts, and he considered the current notices part of a political conspiracy.