Addressing a press conference regarding Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal's arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Delhi Minister and AAP leader Atishi said on Saturday that the AAP supremo's arrest is solely based on a single person's statement named Sharad Chandra Reddy.
Describing the "money trail", Atishi said, "Sharad Chandra Reddy's statement resulted in Kejriwal's arrest. He is granted bail by the ED shortly after making his statement. Sharad Chandra Reddy transferred Rs 4.5 crore electoral bonds to the BJP during the excise policy scam. Following the arrest, the BJP received 55 crore in bonds.
"All of the money was transferred to the BJP's bank account. The ED should arrest JP Nadda. For the first time, the official money trail in the excise policy case has come to light," she added.
The central agency arrested Kejriwal in connection with the excise policy on Thursday, and a Delhi court remanded him for six days on Friday.
Narrating the sequence of events, the Delhi minister said: "Before November 2021, as per ED's complaint, Sharad Chandra Reddy and companies linked with him got 5 zones for liquor vents in the national capital. The excise policy came to life in Nov 2021. In Jan 2022, when the policy was running, Aurobindo Pharma brought Rs 3 Crore bond, and in a few days, BJP encashed the bond. It is to be noted that in July, Aurobindo Pharma again brought a bond worth Rs 1.5 Crore, and in the same month BJP encashed the bond".
Aiming BJP, Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj echoed similar sentiments, saying, “Since the time discussion started in Supreme Court regarding the electoral bonds, BJP, SBI, central government, and Election Commission were trying not to disclose the details. However, now that it has been disclosed; it raises various serious questions.”