05 January,2024 05:39 AM IST | New Delhi | Agencies
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal addresses a press conference regarding summons issued to him by ED. Pic/PTI
The BJP on Thursday attacked Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, saying his "real face" stands exposed after Lt Governor VK Saxena recommended a CBI probe into alleged fake lab tests and ghost patients in the AAP government's mohalla clinics.
In what could be seen as yet another setback for the AAP ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Saxena ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into allegations of fake diagnostic tests prescribed by the Kejriwal government-run Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinics to benefit private labs. The development comes days after Saxena ordered a CBI probe into the alleged supply of drugs that had failed "quality standard tests" to Delhi government-run hospitals.
"There was only a liquor scam so far, now there is a medical scam. And its self-claimed Bharat Ratna, who claims to be outright honest, has done it (scam)," Sudhanshu Trivedi, the BJP's national spokesperson, said during a press conference at the party headquarters in the national capital.
"Amid the drama from Vipassana meditation to poll campaigns, the character of an outright honest [leader] is ruined" with the Lt Governor recommending the CBI probe, Trivedi charged. "It has become clear that you first set up a mohalla clinic, initially started ordinary tests and then made arrangements for big tests, and eventually outsourced all these things to a private entity. It is somewhat like what had happened in the liquor scam," he added. Attacking Kejriwal, the BJP leader said this is a "moral issue" and not a technical one.
AAP leaders on Thursday said the alleged Delhi liquor scam was bogus and asserted that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will cooperate with the ED if it sends "legal" summons to him. AAP leader Jasmine Shah said the investigation has been going on for the last two years but so far, no recovery has been made as evidence by the ED. "The so-called liquor scam investigation is fake. The inquiry in this case has been going on for the last two years and the ED has called more than 500 witnesses and conducted over 1,000 raids but so far, not even R1 has been recovered as evidence," Shah said. "The AAP and Arvind Kejriwal are ready to cooperate in any investigation on the condition that the summons is legal," he said.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday alleged that the BJP-led central government wanted to arrest him to stop him from campaigning for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Addressing a press conference here, he accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of wanting to tarnish his image and asserted that his honesty is his "biggest asset".
Kejriwal, who is also the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener, had skipped the Enforcement Directorate summons on Wednesday for the third time. "My lawyers have told me that the ED summons are illegal. BJP wants to arrest me to stop me from campaigning for Lok Sabha polls," he alleged. Kejriwal said that he has written to the ED, saying their summonses are "illegal" but has not got any response.
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