On 7th April, Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders staged a protest at Connaught Place in Central Delhi against Aam Aadmi Party supremo and Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal. They demanded the resignation of Kejriwal from the CM post over his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the Delhi Excise Policy Scam.
The protesters used a replica of CM’s newly renovated official bungalow and called it ‘Sheeshmahal’. Basing the protest on the reported irregularities in the construction and renovation, they named it “Sharab Se Sheeshmahal Tak”.
A selfie point with the protest’s name was also set up at the site. It featured liquor bottle-shaped cutouts of AAP leaders who were accused of being involved in the alleged Delhi Liquor Policy Scam.
Senior Delhi BJP leaders, Lok Sabha Candidates, MLAs and councillors including Virendra Sachdeva and Bansuri Swaraj participated in the protest. They raised slogans against Kejriwal and demanded his resignation. In a statement, Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva said, “People aren’t getting clean water. There’s no electricity. Arvind Kejriwal has looted the public of Delhi.”
On the other hand, AAP leaders staged a protest in the form of a day-long fast against the arrest of Kejriwal.
ED arrested Arvind Kejriwal in liquor policy scam
On 21st March, ED went to Arvind Kejriwal’s residence in the evening for questioning. Later, he was arrested by the investigating agency in the Delhi Excise Policy Scam. AAP has claimed that Kejriwal’s arrest was politically motivated and illegal. However, his appeal in the court for interim relief was rejected. In November 2021, the Delhi Government introduced a new liquor policy. In June 2022, the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee filed a complaint against the policy. In July 2022, the Chief Secretary of Delhi flagged the anomalies in the policy. Delhi LG requested CBI to initiate a probe and ED joined the investigation by registering a matter under PMLA. Since then, multiple arrests have been made including Manish Sisodia.