“Freedom Fighters Would Not Have Dreamt…”: AAP’s Atishi On Arvind Kejriwal

Issuing a reminder on Independence Day that Delhi Chief Minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal is in jail, state minister Atishi and Mr Kejriwal’s wife, Sunita, have hit out at the Centre and said people of the country should make their voices heard. 

Ms Atishi, who holds the education portfolio among others, had been nominated by Mr Kejriwal to unfurl the Tricolour during the Delhi government’s Independence Day celebrations. The decision was however overruled by Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, who termed it “invalid” and said minister Kailash Gahlot would do so because he is in charge of the Home Department. 

Taking to X on Thursday, Ms Atishi posted a photo of Mr Kejriwal waving the Tricolour and wrote in Hindi, “Today is Independence Day, when India got freedom from British dictatorship in 1947. Hundreds of freedom fighters faced lathicharge, went to jail and sacrificed their lives to get us this freedom. They would not have even dreamt that one day, in Independent India, an elected chief minister would be framed in a false case and kept in jail for months…”

The minister then called upon people to pledge that they would make their voices heard.

Quoting Ms Atishi’s post, Sunita Kejriwal, who has spoken at rallies and even attended INDIA bloc meetings in her husband’s absence, said it was sad that the national flag had not been unfurled at the chief minister’s residence on Independence Day. Referring to Mr Kejriwal, she said the Centre could keep an elected chief minister in jail but cannot stop feelings of patriotism.

The Delhi chief minister was arrested in an alleged scam related to the now-scrapped liquor policy on March 21. A case was first registered by the CBI but Mr Kejriwal was taken into custody by the Enforcement Directorate, which is probing the money laundering angle in the alleged scam. He was granted interim bail in the ED case, but was also arrested by the CBI in June. 

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court refused to grant bail to Mr Kejriwal in the case filed by the CBI. The agency’s action has been termed an “insurance arrest” by the Delhi chief minister’s lawyer. 

Apart from Mr Kejriwal, AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh were arrested in connection with the liquor policy case. They are out on bail. 

Scrapped Policy

Under the excise policy, introduced in November 2021, the Delhi government withdrew from the retail sale of liquor and allowed private licensees to run stores. In July 2022, Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar flagged gross violations in the policy and alleged “undue benefits” to liquor licensees. The policy was scrapped in September that year.

The CBI has alleged that liquor companies were involved in framing the excise policy, which would have earned them a 12% profit. It said a liquor lobby dubbed the “South Group” had paid kickbacks to the tune of Rs 100 crore to the AAP, part of which were routed to public servants. The Enforcement Directorate has alleged laundering of the kickbacks.

The AAP has dismissed all the charges and dubbed Mr Kejriwal’s arrest a conspiracy by the BJP, which has hit back and said the kickbacks were used by the AAP to fund its election campaigns.