"Planned political conspiracy...": Gopal Rai on ED summons to Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi [India], November 2 : Delhi Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Gopal Rai on Thursday said that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wants to arrest Arvind Kejriwal under a "planned political conspiracy".
"It is clear that BJP wants to arrest Arvind Kejriwal as per a planned political conspiracy. BJP leader Manoj Tiwari's statement proves this when he said "Arvind Kejriwal will be arrested", said Rai while addressing the media here in the national capital.
"The nation wants to know if as per a political conspiracy, it is being planned to finish AAP. BJP is misusing central agencies for this. Today morning, suddenly Raaj Kumar Anand's premises were raided. What do you (BJP) want to do? BJP is scared that if all opposition parties come together, then it won't be able to win Lok Sabha elections", he added.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had summoned the Delhi chief minister for questioning in a money laundering case linked to the alleged excise policy scam.
However, Delhi CM Kejriwal demanded the ED withdraw its "vague and motivated" notice summoning him for questioning, claiming that it was "illegal and politically motivated".
"The said summons is not clear as to the capacity in which I am being summoned i.e. as a witness or a suspect in the above-mentioned case. Please recall the said summons, which is, to say the least, vague and motivated and I am advised, unsustainable in law," Kejriwal stated in his letter to Jogendar, Assistant Director, ED.
He further alleged that the said summons appears to be politically motivated and issued for extraneous considerations.
"Simultaneous to the summons, in the afternoon of 30.10.2023, BJP leaders started making statements that I would be summoned and arrested. By the evening of that day, I received your summons. It is thus apparent that the said summons was leaked to select BJP leaders to malign my image and reputation and has been issued at the behest of the ruling party at the Centre," his letter read.
It further stated that the said summons did not specify whether he was summoned as an individual or in his official capacity as Delhi CM or as Aam Aadmi Party convenor adding that it appears to be "in the nature of a fishing and roving inquiry".
Further, the chief minister stated, "Being the National Convenor and a stay campaigner of the Aam Aadmi Party, a National Party, which is contesting elections, I am required to travel for campaigning and to provide political guidance to my field workers of Aam Aadmi Party."
"As the Chief Minister of the State of NCT of Delhi, I have governance and official commitments, for which my presence is required, particularly in view of the Diwali festivities coming up in the second week of November 2023," it added.
Arvind Kejriwal was earlier summoned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in April this year, in connection with the case.
However, Kejriwal was not named as an accused in the first information report (FIR) filed by the CBI on August 17, last year.
Meanwhile, the BJP has attacked the Delhi Chief Minister over his letter to the central probe agency.
BJP National Spokesperson Sambit Patra accused Kejriwal of "running away" from the summons.
"Today you don't want to appear before the Enforcement Directorate and ask how in what capacity have you been called?... You have been called by ED as you are the ocean of corruption, as the source of corruption from where corruption emerges in Delhi," Patra told reporters while referring to Kejriwal's letter to ED.