Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday reacted to the Enforcement Directorate's (ED's) raids at the residence of Aam Aadmi Party's Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh saying that it was the "last ditch effort to try to win an election by a losing man". "They (ED) haven't recovered a single penny in nearly thousands of raids, and they will find nothing at Sanjay Singh's residence," says Delhi CM Kejriwal said.



The ED is currently carrying out searches at the AAP MP's residence in connection with a case related to the Delhi excise policy. Two other AAP leaders are already in prison in connection to the case. Former Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain and former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia are facing legal proceedings related to corruption.


According to officials, the ED is also covering other premises associated with individuals linked to the case. Earlier, the ED had questioned staff members of Sanjay Singh and those connected to him in relation to this matter.


The ED has alleged that the excise policy of the Delhi government for the financial year 2021-22, which involved granting licenses to liquor traders, facilitated cartelisation and favoured specific dealers who were purportedly involved in bribery. The Aam Aadmi Party denied these allegations. Subsequently, the policy was revoked, and the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi recommended a CBI probe. Following this, the ED registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).


Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said: "There have been a thousand raids so far over the last year in this so-called scam, but not a single rupee has been recovered. They [BJP-led Centre] have made several allegations of corruption in schools, transport, roads, electricity, water, and lot more... They [ED] won't get anything at Sanjay Singh's place."


"Yesterday, a raid was conducted against journalists. Today, it's Sanjay Singh. These [raids] are the attempts of a desperate man to win elections," Kejriwal added.


The raid at Sanjay Singh's home has sparked a war between the Opposition [I.N.D.I.A] and the ruling BJP. While the BJP claims that these are legal proceedings against the corrupt, the Opposition, including the Congress has slammed the ED's action and called it a "dictatorial attitude" of the BJP.


Here's how the BJP and the Opposition have reacted to the raid at Sanjay Singh's home:


BJP leader Kapil Mishra said the ED's move is not surprising and that non of the guilty will be spared. "This [raid] is not surprising as many of Sanjay Singh's aides have already been arrested in Delhi liquor policy case... Thousands of homes were destroyed because of AAP's corruption."






BJP leader Gaurav Bhatia said: "The right hand (referring to Manish Sisodia), who was given the certificate of 'staunch honesty' by Arvind Kejriwal, has been in jail for the last 7.5 months. Today, his (Arvind Kejriwal's) other hand - Sanjay Singh - is also raided by the probe agency [ED]."



Taking a dig at the AAP, BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla coined a definition for it. "AAP means 'Aur Adhik Paap' [more sins]," he said. "In the liquor scam case, the sins that Arvind Kejriwal and AAP committed are being revealed each day... Rather than furnishing report cards on the liquor scam case, they are playing the victim card. In this whole scam, two people have turned approvers — one of them is Dinesh Arora... Sanjay Singh has direct connections with him and he only introduced Manish Sisodia to Dinesh Arora... If this is vendetta politics as the AAP party is claiming, then why is the Congress party supporting this proceeding..."


However, contrary to Shehzaad Poonawalla's claim, Congress leaders spoke out in support of AAP on Wednesday. Congress leader Pramod Tiwari said, "This (BJP) government is adopting a dictatorial attitude and creating an atmosphere of coercion, repression, fear and terror against leaders from I.N.D.I.A...The way the raids are being conducted at Sanjay Singh's residence is condemnable ..."



Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, too, condemned the raid at MP Sanjay Singh's residence.



This is a stark deviation from the Congress's earlier stance, which hailed the arrests of Satyendar Jain and Manish Sisodia.


Delhi Minister and AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged that this is a fictitious scam that the ED has been investigating for the last 15 months. "ED and CBI have conducted raids in at least 1,000 places, but not even Re 1 has been recovered from anywhere... They will not get anything at the residence of Sanjay Singh as well...BJP is losing the elections, this is the truth..."



Nitish Kumar's JD(U) to came forth to back the AAP. "Look how is the ED being used [by BJP-led Centre]. First, Sanjay Singh was disqualified from Rajya Sabha, and then he wasn't even allowed to take part in the opening ceremony of the new Parliament," JD(U) leader Neeraj Kumar said.



Lalu Prasad Yadav's RJD echoed JD(U)'s sentiments. RJD MP Manoj Jha said, "It is sad, but not surprising. Now, this will continue till the election. PM Modi and [Union Home Minister] Amit Shah have made the formal announcement for the 2024 elections. Yesterday, raids were conducted against NewsClick and its journalists journalists. Today, raid is against Sanjay Singh..."



Delhi minister Gopal Rai said: "Similar raids have been conducted at around thousands of places in the last 15 months. The CBI and ED have also arrested several people, but they have found nothing, and they will not find anything from Sanjay Singh's residence either."



The AAP also found support From its I.N.D.I.A ally in Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena (UBT). Sena leader and MP Sanjay Raut slammed the BJP and said: "Sanjay Singh is an MP and has been a fearless journalist earlier, who questions boldly, and it was the anger against this that he was suspended from the Parliament. Now, raids are being conducted at his residence. Raids are done in Maharashtra, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand; why not in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Assam."



Raut's party colleague Anand Dubey said, "There was a raid on journalists... And this morning there was a raid on Sanjay Singh's house. Now, in this country, there's no need for Opposition... In a democracy, there will just be one side, which is the party in power. That is the BJP government for you. They are targeting the I.N.D.I.A bloc. The ED and the CBI are conducting raids at the homes of its leaders..."



No Action In Manipur, But...: Sanjay Singh's Father


Sanjay Singh's elderly father said the ED's move was nothing short of "dictatorship". "For asking questions on Manipur Sanjay Singh was suspended for two sessions of Rajya Sabha... We will cooperate with the ED," he said.



Sanjay Singh on Tuesday had questioned the Delhi Police raids against NewsClick and its journalists, calling them an attack on the freedom of the journalists and the fourth pillar of democracy. "PM Modi is not speaking anything against China's infiltration... but taking action against journalists and creating a drama," he said.