‘If he was not dishonest, why policy was withdrawn?’: Rekha Gupta on Kejriwal’s discharge in Delhi excise case

Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta

A day after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal was discharged in the now-scrapped excise policy case, Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta questioned why was it discarded in the first place.

“If he was not dishonest, then why did he withdraw the liquor policy as soon as the investigation started,” she asked, while also mentioning that Kejriwal’s government was involved in multitude of scams.

She was speaking at the News18 Rising Bharat Summit.

Her remarks came after the Rouse Avenue Court on February 27 discharged former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, and 21 others in the high-profile excise policy case.

The court observed that the alleged "central conspiratorial role" of Kejriwal could not be proven with any material evidence.

“The lower court's decision is not final, we have seen corruption from our own eyes. Everytime a file opens, we find evidence of corruption,” said Gupta.

On Congress’s allegations that the court’s decision was a strategic move to weaken the Congress party ahead of the upcoming Punjab and Gujarat elections, Gupta said, “When Congress – a party which the public brought down even below NOTA – says such a thing, it is very funny,” she said.

After being discharged in the excise policy case, Kejriwal launched a sharp attack at the Congress leadership, dismissing allegations made by Pawan Khera that the verdict was politically timed to undercut the party before elections in Punjab and Gujarat.

"I want to ask the Congress - Kejriwal went to jail. Did Robert Vadra go to jail? Sanjay Singh went to jail. Did Rahul Gandhi go to jail? Sanjay Singh went to jail. Did Sonia Gandhi ji went to jail? What is Congress saying? Does it have no shame?" Kejriwal said.

As a response, Dixit remarked that AAP supremo hasn't recieved a clean chit in the case, stating, "Why will Sonia Gandhi go to jail? Was she involved in the liquor scam? He (Arvind Kejriwal) hasn't received a clean chit yet... You spent three or four years jumping on the streets of Delhi saying there were files against the Congress. Where did those files go?"

"Everyone knows what kind of collusion you are involved in. We knew they (AAP and BJP) had developed a relationship. The whole country knows that AAP is the BJP's 'B' team. As long as the BJP needed them, they took no action against them, but when they (BJP) wanted power in Delhi, the files were opened," he further claimed.