Social activist and Gandhian leader Anna Hazare on Friday broke his silence on the arrest of his former protege Arvind Kejriwal and said that the “attack” that he faces today is an outcome of his own deeds.
“I am very upset that Arvind Kejriwal, who used to work with me, raised his voice against liquor, is now making liquor policies. His arrest is because of his own deeds. Whatever happens now under the purview of law is now for the government to deal with. However, this would not have happened if he would have refrained from making liquor policies,” Hazare told news agency ANI.
Hazare and Kejriwal jointly spearheaded a massive people’s campaign to press the then UPA government to constitute a Lokpal (ombudsman) to look into cases of corruption against political leaders. The duo led several protests against the then COngress-led government and went on fast-unto-death to pressure the government to accept their demands.
Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy case after the Delhi CM skipped nine summonses issued to him by the agency asking him to appear for questioning.
A team of around 12 ED officials arrived at the CM’s official residence at Civil Lines in Delhi for questioning. He was taken into custody within a couple of hours. The development came hours after the Delhi High Court refused to grant relief to Kejriwal from any coercive action.
The case against Kejriwal stems from the scrapped Delhi excise policy 2021-22. According to the ED, the excise policy was implemented as part of a conspiracy to give wholesale business profit of 12 percent to certain private companies, although such a stipulation was not mentioned in the minutes of meetings of the Group of Ministers (GoM).
The ED has also alleged a conspiracy coordinated by Vijay Nair and other individuals along with a certain ‘South Group’ to give extraordinary profit margins to wholesalers. ED claims that Nair was acting on behalf of CM Arvind Kejriwal and his former deputy Manish Sisodia.