 "Aam Aadmi Party national convenor, AAP national convenor, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal")
The AAP on Saturday alleged that the Centre was "misusing" probe agencies to "harass" its leaders and preparing to arrest Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who has been summoned by the CBI to its headquarters on April 16 for questioning in the excise police case.
It also alleged that the Centre was "scared" of the Aam Aadmi Party and their aim was to finish it.
Addressing a press conference, senior AAP leader and Delhi Cabinet minister Atishi asserted Kejriwal was the only leader speaking out on the issue of corruption, which was why efforts were being made to stifle his voice.
"Have the agencies found black money during their raids at his residence or anyone else? No. Kejriwal is the only leader talking about the issue of corruption. They want to stifle his voice. But they won't be able to do so," she said.
Kejriwal has been summoned by the CBI at its office here to answer questions of the investigating team in connection with irregularities in formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped excise policy.
His former deputy Manish Sisodia has already been arrested in the case. Satyendar Jain, another AAP leader, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money-laundering case and is in jail for nearly a year.
Atishi said several cases have been slapped against AAP leaders but probe agencies have not been able to prove corruption against them.
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AAP national spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged later that the Centre was preparing to arrest Kejriwal.
"The Centre is preparing to arrest Arvind Kejriwal. Why is the central government so scared of him and the Aam Aadmi Party? Their aim is to finish our party. We are a new party and merely have government in two states, he said.
He alleged that the BJP was misusing central agencies to put AAP leaders in jail.
Why is the Centre putting all their strength to harass AAP leaders? The prime minister is scared of Arvind Kejriwal. The BJP government is only misusing the central agencies like CBI and ED to put AAP leaders behind the bars, he alleged.
Asked about reports of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge extending his support to Kejriwal after CBI's summons, Bharadwaj said the party welcomes it, quickly adding that when Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from Lok Sabha, Kejriwal was one of the first leaders who expressed displeasure over the matter.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
