Atishi, leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and a minister in Delhi, raised serious concerns about what she perceives as targeted political retaliation by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). She accused the BJP of orchestrating a deliberate campaign aimed at destabilizing her party's unity and strength ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
According to Atishi, in the next two months leading up to the elections, four more AAP leaders, including herself, Saurabh Bharadwaj, Durgesh Pathak, and Raghav Chadha, are slated to be arrested. She sees this as part of a broader strategy by the BJP to dismantle the leadership hierarchy of AAP.
"The BJP's sudden interest in reviving these old statements underscores their desperation to undermine the resilience of AAP, even in the face of prominent leaders such as Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh, and Satyendra Jain being incarcerated," she said.
In addition, Atishi disclosed an alleged attempt by a close BJP associate to entice her into joining their ranks as a way to salvage her political career. She warned that her refusal to comply with these overtures could lead to her arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) within a month.
Furthermore, Atishi highlighted recent developments, such as her and Saurabh Bharadwaj's names being mentioned in court proceedings by the ED, based on statements that have been in the possession of both the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for over a year and a half. She claimed that these statements are already part of the ED and CBI's charge sheets.
She concluded by alleging that the BJP's agenda is clear: to systematically target AAP's leadership, weaken its foundation, and diminish its prospects ahead of the upcoming electoral battle.
The ED's judicial custody application in the court read: "However, the statements by Vijay Nair reveal that he stayed in a Cabinet Minister's bungalow and worked from the Camp Office of the CM. It was also put to the arrestee to explain why would someone, who reported to other leaders of the AAP, work from his Camp Office, which anyways is meant for the work of the CM of Delhi and not for the party."
(With inputs from IANS)
