'Won't Be Surprising If...': Sharad Pawar On ED Vs Kejriwal Over Excise Policy Case

NCP chief Sharad Pawar has backed Delhi CM over repeated summons by the ED in connection with the now-scrapped excise policy case.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar backed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday over summons served on him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). He said that it won't be surprising if Kejriwal gets arrested. Pawar alleged the Centre misusing power to discourage those who did not share similar political views as theirs. While addressing his party workers in Maharashtra's Shirdi, Pawar said that the summons had been sent by the central probe agency to Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren as well and he feared that Soren too could be arrested, as reported by news agency PTI.

He said that in the past 10 years, people have voted Kejriwal to power. He added that Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ministers have been jailed and steps were being taken to arrest the Delhi Chief Minister as well. PTI quoted Pawar as saying, "He has been issued notices to appear before the ED. The chief minister of the country's capital. Everyone in Delhi knows he is a simple man with a clean image. It will not be surprising if he is arrested."

"This means efforts are being made to discourage those who do not have similar political views by misusing power," he alleged.

The Delhi Chief Minister and the national convenor of the AAP skipped the ED summons on Wednesday. Till now, he has skipped three of such summons in connection with questioning over a money laundering case that is linked to the Delhi Excise Policy scam. Kejriwal has termed the summons 'illegal'.

The alleged liquor scam is related to the excise policy 2021-22 that was scrapped by Kejriwal's government last year after Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena recommended a CBI probe into "lapses and irregularities" in its implementation, PTI reported.