Explainers

Delhi excise policy case: What’s in store for AAP if Arvind Kejriwal is arrested?

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal will appear before the Enforcement Directorate on Thursday (2 November) for questioning in the excise policy case. The AAP leaders have voiced concerns that he will be put behind bars. What challenges will his arrest bring to the party?

FP Explainers Last Updated:November 01, 2023 20:46:13 IST

The AAP fears Arvind Kejriwal may be arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on 2 November. PTI File Photo

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal is set to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday (2 November) for questioning in the excise policy case. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has voiced apprehensions regarding Kejriwal’s arrest in connection with the central agency’s money laundering probe in the case.

Three top AAP leaders are already behind bars in two different cases – former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh are in jail in the alleged excise policy scam and former health minister Satyendar Jain, currently on bail, was arrested in another money laundering case.

What has the AAP said about Kejriwal’s feared arrest? What happens to the party if even the Delhi CM goes to jail? We explain.

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Will Arvind Kejriwal be arrested?

AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj said on Wednesday (1 November) that the Delhi government will run from jail if all party leaders are imprisoned. Speaking about the Kejriwal-led party’s strategy if the Delhi CM is arrested, Bharadwaj told ANI, “It would be decided by the senior leaders of the party. But if the whole party is in jail, then the government and the party would run from jail. And this is what the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) wants everyone should be in jail… They want free education, free electricity, free water, free pilgrimage, hospitals, and mohalla clinics to stop but Arvind Kejriwal will not let this happen…”

Attacking the saffron party, he said that whoever is an “obstacle” to the BJP, those leaders would be jailed.

A day back, Delhi minister Atishi said they had inputs that Kejriwal would be put in prison after ED’s interrogation on 2 November, alleging that the “BJP and the PM (Narendra Modi) want to finish AAP”.

“Arvind Kejriwal will be arrested not because there is any case against him, it is because the PM fears him,” she told reporters. Atishi also alleged that the BJP-led Centre is targeting the AAP as the saffron camp knows it cannot defeat Kejriwal’s party in polls.

Delhi minister Gopal Rai expressed similar concerns, claiming the BJP wants to get Kejriwal arrested to “destroy” the AAP.

“A conspiracy has been underway to eliminate the AAP government since it came to power, and now BJP leaders are preparing for Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest through the ED. BJP leaders have been shouting since Monday that since the Supreme Court has rejected Manish Sisodiaji’s bail application, Arvind Kejriwal will be arrested,” Rai was quoted as saying by Indian Express.

The Supreme Court dismissed Sisodia’s bail plea on Monday, saying a money trail of Rs 338 crore has been “tentatively established” in the now-withdrawn liquor policy case, as per NDTV. Hours later, the ED issued a summon to Kejriwal for questioning in the alleged scam.

The Delhi chief minister was earlier questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case in April.

What happens to AAP if Kejriwal is arrested?

There are multiple worries for the AAP if Kejriwal is arrested on Thursday. According to a report in Indian Express, taking its fears into account, the Kejriwal-led party has asked its “trusted” MLAs and advisors about leaders to temporarily replace the CM, if needed. Party sources told the newspaper that the names of Gopal Rai, Ram Niwas Goel and Atishi are being discussed.

A senior party leader said the final decision would be taken by Kejriwal in this matter, the report added.

If the Delhi CM is arrested, AAP will also have to pick a party chief as Kejriwal has been the party’s national convenor since 2012.

Another challenge before the AAP is finding a leader who would “exert a degree of authority” and be “acceptable” to MLAs to keep them united, a party source told Indian Express.

The AAP is also contesting the upcoming Assembly polls in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

As per the newspaper report, the AAP is mulling to prepare ground support in case its leader is put in jail.

Will AAP’s image be hit?

According to former AAP member and Satya Hindi Editor Ashutosh, Kejriwal’s arrest would be “catastrophic” for the party. In an opinion piece for NDTV, he wrote that it would be difficult for the AAP to “weave an argument” that Kejriwal is being “wilfully targeted” by the ED under the Modi government’s behest, especially after the apex court’s observations during the recent bail hearing for Sisodia.

“The perpetual doubt that will hang over their heads from now onwards is that since there is a strong case against Manish Sisodia — why is why he is not getting bail even from the Supreme Court — the involvement of the chief minister cannot be ruled out too,” the journalist wrote.

He also mentioned in his piece that Kejriwal’s arrest would be a “big embarrassment” for the INDIA alliance, which may not support the AAP “beyond a point”.

Speaking to Rediff.com, Ashutosh said that the arrest of Kejriwal, who has a “very clean image” in public’s eyes, could also “backfire on the BJP”. “At this moment I am not sure whether he will be arrested or not, but if he is arrested it could backfire on the BJP and boost the Opposition parties which have been saying all along that the BJP is playing vindictive politics.”

“The BJP may want to paint Kejriwal as a corrupt leader, but the people may not believe so and feel that he is being victimised,” Rediff.com quoted Ashutosh as saying.

With inputs from agencies