Mr. Arvind Kejriwal has been asked by the Central Bureau of investigation (CBI) to attend for questioning on Sunday. Marking the first time in recent memory that a Chief Minister has been called in for questioning by the CBI.
As per agency sources, they have discovered new evidence and are now entitled to interview the Chief Minister. According to them, the date was chosen on a Sunday to avoid interfering with the Chief Minister’s work. Arvind Kejriwal has already stated that there is no such thing as a spirits scam. However, he is yet to react on the CBI’s action. The BJP, controls the government at the centre. It is accused of using the accusations as “vendetta” against one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s most outspoken critics.
Why is CBI questioning Arvind Kejriwal?
The Delhi government abolished government supervision over the sale of alcohol in the capital last year. CBI is looking into claims that private sellers received unfair benefits as a result.
The agency has claimed lakhs in bribes were paid for favours in the policy and funnelled into Mr. Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) election campaign in Goa last year, alleging “highest levels” of Mr. Kejriwal’s government were involved in the scam.
The arrest of Manish Sisodia in February attracted the most media attention to date. The country’s financial crime-fighting organisation Enforcement Directorate, which is looking into claims of money laundering in the case, detained him while he was still imprisoned the following month.
The summons to Mr. Kejriwal comes as his 10-year-old party, recently raised to the status of a national group, attempts to position itself as one of the primary alternatives to PM Modi’s BJP. Mr. Kejriwal’s political career began with the 2011 anti-corruption campaign that swept the nation.
They also come after a stepped-up push by opposition parties to unite ahead of the elections the following year, citing widespread abuse of central investigative agencies.
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