KEJRIWAL ARRESTED BY ED

Delhi CM who rose to prominence on anti-graft plank was silent on many queries by ED

- RAHUL CHHABRA

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday after a two-hour questioning in the Delhi excise policy case, a development that kicked up a storm on the national political landscape with many of his colleagues from the I.N.D.IA bloc showing solidarity with him and slamming the Narendra Modi government for allegedly misusing central agencies for political vendetta.

The development is likely to impact the AAP’s performance in the coming Lok Sabha elections as he is the convenor of the party and its chief campaigner. His arrest may also give a handle to NDA to slam the I.N.D.I.A bloc and step up their attacks on the corruption issues. The biggest impact of the development may be felt on Delhi’s 7 and Punjab’s 13 Lok Sabha seats, the two states where the party heads state governments.

Kejriwal joins four other top four party leaders who are in jail in connection with various cases, including the Delhi liquor excise case. Those already in jail include Deputy Minister Manish Sisodia, PWD minister Satyendar Jain and AAP’s Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh.

The Delhi CM’s arrest comes within a week of the arrest of Telangana BRS leader K. Kavitha’s in the Delhi liquor scam, after she presented evidence of her alleged bribery of nearly Rs 100 crore to AAP leaders in Delhi.

Soon after the arrest, Kejriwal’s Cabinet colleague Atishi Marlena adopted a combative posture and ruled out his resignation from the Chief Minister’s post after his arrest.