Tag: Kejriwal

  • Arvind Kejriwal: Swati Maliwal’s video allegedly shot inside Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s residence surfaces on social media, MP says it’s ‘out of context’

    Swati Maliwal assault case has taken another turn. Amid controversy over AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal’s claim that she was physically assaulted by Kejriwal’s PA Bibhav Kumar, an unverified video showing the events at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence on May 13 has surfaced on social media. Reacting on the unverified video, Swati Maliwal has said that the video is without any context. Without taking any name, the Rajya Sabha MP alleged that the ‘political hitman has started to save himself.’Political Hitman is trying to save himself: Maliwal”Like every time, this time too this political hitman has started trying to save himself. By getting its people to tweet, and by playing videos without any context, it feels that it will save itself from committing this crime. Does someone make a video of beating someone?” she asked in a post on X.Truth will come out one day: Maliwal”The truth will be in front of everyone as soon as the CCTV footage inside the house and the room is examined,” she said. “You can fall to any level but god is watching everything. One day the truth will come out in front of to the world,” she added.— SwatiJaiHind (@SwatiJaiHind) Unverified Video Surfaces OnlineIn the latest turn of events, an unverified video has gone viral on social media in which a women can heard having conversation with security personnel. As per the social media, the video was shot after the assault on Swati Maliwal. “The video of Swati Maliwal having an argument with security after the assault,” the social media post with the video reads.AllUttar PradeshMaharashtraTamil NaduWest BengalBiharKarnatakaAndhra PradeshTelanganaKeralaMadhya PradeshRajasthanDelhiOther StatesIn the video, which ET has not independently verified, Maliwal is heard arguing with Kejriwal’s staff. She is heard saying “I have called the police and will leave only when they arrive. I will make sure you lose your job if you touch me,” Maliwal can be heard saying in the video. It is, however, not known at the moment about who made this 52-second viral video.Maliwal’s FIR alleges she was kicked and slapped On Thursday, the Delhi Police lodged an FIR concerning the alleged assault on Swati Maliwal, a Rajya Sabha MP from the Aam Aadmi Party. Bibhav Kumar, the personal secretary of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, is accused of assaulting her at the CM’s residence earlier in the week. According to police sources, Maliwal’s complaint states that Kumar slapped her multiple times and struck her chest and stomach during the incident on Monday. The FIR, filed by Maliwal on Thursday, charges Kumar under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including molestation, criminal intimidation, and outraging a woman’s modesty. However, Kejriwal is not named in the FIR, confirmed a police officer. The investigation is ongoing, and more details are anticipated as the case progresses.

  • ‘Arrested without proper investigation’: RJD MP Manoj Jha on interim bail to Kejriwal

    Hailing the Supreme Court verdict granting interim bail to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with the Delhi excise policy case, RJD MP Manoj Jha on Saturday said he was ‘happy’ with the reprieve for the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as he was arrested without a ‘proper investigation’.

    Speaking to on Saturday, the RJD leader said, “He (Kejriwal) was arrested without a proper investigation just as (former Jharkhand CM) Hemant Soren-ji and several others. We are happy that he was granted (interim) bail and allowed to campaign for the Lok Sabha elections. If he (Hemant Soren) gets bail, they (BJP) will be wiped out of Jharkhand as well.”

    Earlier, on Saturday, the Delhi CM was granted interim bail after 50 days of incarceration at the Tihar jail following his arrest by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) in the excise policy case. The AAP supremo was arrested on March 21, after several hours of questioning.The Delhi CM was granted a 22-day reprieve, till June 1, on the condition that he shall not visit the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) or the Secretariat. AllUttar PradeshMaharashtraTamil NaduWest BengalBiharKarnatakaAndhra PradeshTelanganaKeralaMadhya PradeshRajasthanDelhiOther StatesAs per the court order, Kejriwal was asked to furnish bail bonds of Rs 50,000 with one surety of the same amount. He was asked to surrender on June 2, which coincides with the final day of polling for the 18th Lok Sabha.While granting Kejriwal interim bail, the apex court said he would not interact with any of the witnesses or have access to official files connected with the case.He also can’t “make any comment with regard to his role” in the present case, the bench ordered.The bench also made it clear that the grant of interim bail will not be treated as an expression of its opinion on the merits of the case or the criminal appeal which is pending for its consideration.

    Earlier, in April, AAP MP Sanjay Singh was released on bail from Tihar jail in the liquor policy case following an order by the apex court. Singh was released after spending over six months in jail in connection with the case.

  • AAP’s allegation of plot to kill Arvind Kejriwal in jail ‘completely false’: BJP

    The BJP on Friday dismissed as “completely false” the Aam Aadmi Party’s allegation of a plot to kill Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in jail, and said the party should refrain from making such “sensational statements”. Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters here, party spokesperson Shazia Ilmi said, “All of us wish for his long life. We would all like him to be in good health. More than us, the jail administration would like to ensure that their patients (inmates) are taken care of.” “Why would any government agency or jail administration want to be held responsible for his (deteriorating) health conditions and try to put his life in danger? Why would anybody do such things?” she asked. The BJP’s reaction came after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh on Friday reiterated his party’s allegation that a conspiracy was being hatched against Kejriwal and anything can happen to him in the prison. Delhi Cabinet Minister Atishi had on Thursday alleged that there was a plot to kill Kejriwal, arrested by the ED in the Delhi excise policy case, by allegedly denying him home-cooked food and insulin in jail, a charge rejected by the prison authorities. AllUttar PradeshMaharashtraTamil NaduWest BengalBiharKarnatakaAndhra PradeshTelanganaKeralaMadhya PradeshRajasthanDelhiOther States “Such kind of allegations are completely false. The Aam Aadmi Party should refrain from making such sensational statements,” Ilmi told reporters when asked for the BJP’s reaction to the AAP leaders’ accusation. The BJP spokesperson also rejected Atishi’s allegation that Kejriwal was denied insulin in jail and said, “No jail in India would do this. We are a very responsible democracy.” “I don’t think it is possible to even deny insulin to a diabetic patient (lodged in jail), no matter if the person is a chief minister or somebody else,” she added.

  • Arvind Kejriwal: Sunita Kejriwal best person to keep AAP together: Saurabh Bharadwaj

    AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj has said that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s wife Sunita is the best person to keep the party together in the prevailing circumstances and asserted that her presence has had a “positive effect” on the cadre. In an interaction with PTI editors at the agency’s headquarters here, Bharadwaj, who is also a cabinet minister in the Delhi government, said Sunita Kejriwal has always said that she is the “messenger” of the Delhi chief minister who is currently in jail.

    Noting that the politics of a party does not just revolve around its manifesto, Bharadwaj said the support base and the emotional connection between the cadre and the top leadership also plays a crucial role in keeping an organisation together.

    Sunita Kejriwal’s presence has had a positive impact, he adderted. “She is delivering the messages of Arvind Kejriwal ji. This has had a great impact on our party cadre and among our sympathisers. We want to propagate it. In the present circumstances, she is the best person to keep the party together,” Bharadwaj said.

    Kejriwal, arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money-laundering case linked to the Delhi government’s now-scrapped excise policy, is in judicial custody till April 15.

    His wife has addressed three digital briefings so far, in which she read out his messages from the ED custody and Tihar Jail. In a political debut of sorts, she read out his message at the INDIA bloc ‘maharally’ on March 31. Asked if Sunita Kejriwal will campaign for the party in the Lok Sabha polls, he said, “We would love if this thing happens… if Sunita ji does take part in campaigning but it is her personal decision.”

    On further prodding whether there was some kind of “messaging” in Sunita Kejriwal taking centre stage after her husband’s arrest, the minister replied in the negative.

    AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, who too was arrested in the excise policy case and received bail on Wednesday, had met Sunita Kejriwal immediately after getting out of jail and was seen touching her feet.

    Talking about it, the minister said if someone’s elder brother is in some difficulty, he is duty-bound to look after his family.

    “This is our culture. The BJP was saying that there would be fights among the party members after Kejriwal’s arrest. Sanjay Singh considers Arvind Kejriwal his family, his elder brother. So, he touched her (Sunita Kejriwal) feet. We are working as one unit and one family,” he said.

  • Arvind Kejriwal: AAP to cite Subrata Roy precedent to give Arvind Kejriwal access to facilities to run govt

    The Aam Aadmi Party plans to plead in court that a part of the Tihar Central Jail complex be declared as ‘prison’ to allow Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to gain access to video conferencing and other office facilities essential to run the Delhi government.

    According to AAP insiders, the party’s legal team is doing spadework to petition the court citing precedents when undertrials were allowed to operate their offices from inside Tihar jail.

    “The most high-profile precedent is that of Sahara group’s Subrata Roy who got permission from court to use office facility inside Tihar jail to negotiate sale of his luxury hotels in New York and London to raise his bail money. In 2014, the special court complex inside Tihar was declared ‘jail’ by director-general (prisons),” a senior AAP functionary, who did not wish to be identified, told ET.The functionary said that Unitech promoters Sanjay Chandra and Ajay Chandra were also found to be illegally operating an office from Tihar jail. “If those who have swindled money of the people can run their offices, the court should not have a problem to grant the request of an elected chief minister for similar facilities.” Under the Prisons Act, the director-general (prisons) or the lieutenant-governor have the powers to declare any facility as a “prison” for security reasons or for ease of operation.

    With Kejriwal remanded to jail and refusing to quit as CM, an unprecedented situation has emerged for the first time in history, of a CM insisting on running the government from behind bars. As per Rule 1349 of the Jail Manual, only 10 facilities are extended to an undertrial prisoner – legal defence, interviews with lawyers or family members (for legal purposes), signing vakalatnamas, delegation of power of attorney, execution of will, essential religious necessities as per rules, applications to courts for legal aid at government cost as per provisions of law, other applications to courts, application to legal aid societies for free legal aid and such other facilities as are sanctioned by the government. These do not include video conferencing facilities or signatures on files.

  • Kejriwal arrest: Arvind Kejriwal arrested: Punjab BJP chief demands ED probe into state’s excise policy

    Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar on Friday said a party delegation will approach the Election Commission and seek an ED probe into the state’s excise policy, which he claimed was tailored in lines with the one in Delhi. “For the (Delhi) excise policy which Kejriwal had to see this day, the same model has been replicated by their government in Punjab,” Jakhar told reporters here.

    Kejriwal, AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday night in an excise policy-linked money laundering case in Delhi, triggering massive protests by party workers in the national capital and a few states.

    Jakhar said a high-powered delegation of BJP will go and meet authorities of the Election Commission on Saturday to demand a ED probe. The same excise policy under which many Delhi ministers have been jailed has been implemented in Punjab by Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann, he said.

    The BJP leader said that Kejriwal should have resigned immediately after his arrest but his party leaders are saying that Kejriwal would continue as chief minister.

    This shows that the AAP supremo does not trust his party’s leaders and the party is “power hungry”, Jakhar added. The state BJP chief said that Congress leaders in the state who had demanded an ED probe into the excise policy earlier should also approach the Election Commission.

    “Kejriwal will go into the annals of history as the first sitting chief minister to go to jail in an excise policy case,” he said.

  • Arvind Kejriwal: Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest: AAP faces leadership crisis ahead of Lok Sabha election

    New Delhi: The arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the alleged excise policy scam case has posed a leadership crisis question before the AAP as well as the Delhi government, with his wife Sunita Kejriwal and cabinet ministers Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj being talked about as his possible replacement. The challenge before the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) now is to come up with a worthy leader who could handle both the party and its government in Delhi in absence of Kejriwal.

    However, it’s indeed a big task for the AAP leadership to come up with a name of a leader that at least comes closer to Kejriwal’s stature as convener of the party since its inception in 2012 and holding Delhi Chief Minister’s post for three terms spanning nearly a decade.

    The urgency of the task becomes even more pressing as the AAP is gearing up to contest the Lok Sabha polls in Punjab, Delhi, Gujarat, Assam and Haryana in which Kejriwal was to be a key campaigner of the party. Apart from Sunita Kejriwal, a former IRS officer, the names of AAP government ministers Atishi and Bharadwaj too are taking rounds for the post of Delhi chief minister.

    Atishi, who holds the maximum number of portfolios in the Delhi government, including education, finance, PWD, revenue and services, is considered close to Arvind Kejriwal.

    She is also a frontline spokesperson of the party defending the AAP government and Kejriwal, and attacking the BJP in her regular press conferences and appearances on news channels. Likewise, Bharadwaj is also a prominent member of the Delhi Cabinet holding several important portfolios including health and urban development. He, too, is a well known face of the party, often engaged in defending the party and its leaders and counter-attacking the BJP and its government at the Centre on a range of governance-related and political issues.

    However, in December last year, the AAP launched a signature campaign ‘Mai Bhi Kejriwal’, asking people whether he should resign as Delhi chief minister or run the government from jail if arrested.

    During the campaign, the AAP supremo also met party MLAs and municipal corporation councilors in Delhi for their feedback on the issue.

    Bharadwaj recently told reporters in a press conference, “Nearly 90 per cent of people in this exercise opined that Kejriwal has the mandate of Delhi and he has been elected and hence, only he would run the government in Delhi no matter from where.”

    The AAP leadership also has to find a replacement of Kejriwal to head the party that runs governments in Delhi and Punjab besides having MLAs in Gujarat and Goa as well.

    In this area also, the options of the party are rather limited.

    Apart from Sunita Kejriwal, name of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Atishi too are taking rounds as leaders who could hold the responsibility of new AAP national convener.

  • ED Summons Arvind Kejriwal In Another Money Laundering Case Linked To DJB |

    New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate has summoned Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a second money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), official sources said Sunday.

    He has been asked to depose before the central agency at its office at A P J Abdul Kalam Road on March 18 and record his statement under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said.

    This is the second case registered under the anti-money laundering law in which the 55-year-old politician, also the national convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), has been summoned.

    He is already facing summons for questioning in the Delhi excise policy linked money laundering case. Kejriwal has skipped eight summons in this case till now, terming them illegal. A fresh and ninth such notice in the excise policy case stipulates him to appear before the ED investigating officer on March 21.

    Reacting to the summons in the second case, Delhi minister Atishi told reporters on Sunday that, “Nobody knows what this DJB case is about. This seems to be a backup plan to arrest Kejriwal anyhow and stop him from campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls”.

    The ED, in the DJB case, has alleged that bribe money generated from corruption in a contract issued by this Delhi government department was “passed on” as election funds to the AAP that currently rules the national capital.

    The ED raided the premises of Kejriwal’s personal assistant Bibhav Kumar, AAP Rajya Sabha MP N D Gupta, former DJB member Shalabh Kumar, chartered accountant Pankaj Mangal and some others as part of this investigation in February.

    A CBI FIR which alleges that former chief engineer of DJB Jagdish Kumar Arora awarded a contract of the DJB to a company NKG Infrastructure Ltd for a total cost of Rs 38 crore despite the fact that the company “did not meet” the technical eligibility criteria, is the basis of the ED case.

    The ED arrested Arora and a contractor named Anil Kumar Aggarwal in this case on January 31.

    NKG Infrastructure Ltd obtained the bid by submitting “forged” documents and Arora “was aware of the fact that the company does not meet the technical eligibility,” the agency claimed.

    An ED statement alleged that Arora “received” bribe in cash and in bank accounts after awarding the contract to NKG Infrastructure Ltd. And that he “passed on” this money to various persons managing the affairs at DJB, including “persons connected with AAP”.

    “Bribe amounts were also passed on as election funds to AAP,” it claimed.

    This is the second case where the federal agency has charged the AAP with taking kickbacks. It has claimed that bribe money from the scrapped excise policy of 2021-22 was used by the Arvind Kejriwal-led party for campaigning in Goa assembly elections.

    The agency said that the DJB contract was awarded at “highly inflated rates” so that the bribes could be collected from the contractors.

    “As against the contract value of Rs 38 crore, only about Rs 17 crore was spent towards the contract and the remaining amounts were siphoned off in guise of various fake expenses.” “Such fake expenses were booked for bribes and election funds,” the ED claimed.

    Delhi minister Atishi had claimed in a press briefing after the raids that the officials of the agency just sat in the living room of Bibhav Kumar and took with them only two Gmail account downloads and three family phones.

     

  • “World’s biggest party caught stealing votes”, Kejriwal led AAP protests against BJP

    Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal, along with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and other party leaders, protested in Delhi against the BJP over the Chandigarh mayoral elections.”BJP messes up in elections; there were often allegations that BJP wins elections by messing up; BJP steals election votes, tampers with EVMs, gets names removed from the voter list, and adds fake names, we heard. We used to hear that fake votes were cast, but never found any proof. There is a verse written in the Gita, Yada Yada hi Dharmasya Glanirbhavati Bharata: whenever too much sin is committed on this earth, then the God above will come to the earth. This election in Chandigarh shows that they are the pot of sin. How did it get filled? When the pot of sin gets filled too much, then nature moves its broom, God moves its broom, and corrects things. The Chandigarh election was a small one. The world’s biggest party was caught stealing votes in the Chandigarh elections; it was caught red-handed.” said CM Kejriwal at Delhi while addressing the protest.”We have not come here to seek power. Elections keep coming. Parties keep on coming and going. Leaders keep on coming. Leaders keep on coming. Today the BJP is ruling; tomorrow someone else will be. There should not be any playing with our democracy; those who have started playing with the elections, those who are playing with the democracy, were caught on camera,” the CM added.Speaking about the potential misuse of election machinery on a large scale in the Lok Sabha election, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said, “If they can create such a big mess in a small election like Chandigarh, then it is obvious that they can create such a big mess in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, whether it is so or not, no matter how they come in front of the country. This is a wrong thing, so friends, we strongly condemn it and today, from this platform, I want to warn the people of the country that when you come after casting your vote, you think that you voted for a particular party, but after that, your vote gets counted. What happens is nothing; you press someone’s button inside the machine, the vote goes to someone’s account, and someone’s name is removed from the voter list, If democracy is in danger, election are meaningless.”

    “We all have to come together and raise our voice against it, under any circumstances, we should not let democracy die; do not let the country be tampered with. Now we will not make any mess in a peaceful manner; we will peacefully go towards the headquarters of BJP. We will stop wherever the police stop us, we should not not have to quarrel with the police,” said CM Kejriwal.

    Earlier the Delhi Chief Minister skipped the fifth summons from the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the alleged Delhi Liquor scam. Kejriwal and his party have called the summons illegal.The BJP however accused the Delhi CM of running away from the investigative agency.”Arvind Kejriwal, if there is nothing to hide…then why are you not presenting yourself before the ED and other agencies? You are the same Kejriwal who, under Anna Hazare’s tutelage, said that first there should be resignation and then investigation. Today you refuse to cooperate with investigation. You say that these are all politically motivated, as if doing ‘bhrashtachar’ is your ‘shishtachar’…How long will you play this victimhood card?…This is the ‘charitra’ of INDI alliance, that the only thing that binds them is commission and corruption, not a mission or vision” BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala said.

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  • ED summons Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal again on January 18

    The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has again issued summons to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal asking him to appear before the agency on January 18.

    This is the fourth time Kejriwal has been summoned by the federal agency in connection with its ongoing money laundering probe into the Delhi Excise policy alleged scandal. Kejriwal was earlier summoned thrice by ED but he had previously declined to appear citing prior engagements linked to the now-concluded assembly elections.

    He was then asked to appear on December 21 and January 3 but Kejriwal skipped the summons calling them “politically motivated and illegal”. In February a local Court had taken cognisance of the supplementary charge sheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with its money laundering probe into the Delhi government’s now-scrapped liquor policy.

    The federal agency has alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) used the money raised from the Delhi liquor scam to fund the Goa election campaign.

    “Investigation of the trail of this kickback so far has revealed that part of these funds was used in the election campaign of the AAP,” the agency had alleged in its supplementary chargesheet.The charge sheet had mentioned an alleged call between Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Indospirits owner Sameer Mahendru, an accused in the case, wherein Kejriwal allegedly asked him to carry on working with AAP communication’s incharge Vijay Nair.The agency had alleged in its charge sheet that Nair had arranged a meeting between Sameer Mahendru and Kejriwal over facetime where Kejriwal allegedly told the former that “Vijay is his boy and that Sameer should trust him and carry on with him.” Kejriwal, however, had described the allegations as “fiction”.