Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain took a veiled swipe at the central government, hours after the state’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal reported that sources had apprised him of the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) intention to arrest Jain in the coming days. Jain stated that this was all part of ‘politics’ ahead of the assembly polls, and noted that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) would not back down from contesting the elections, despite such steps.
Jain, who is in Punjab, for the elections said, “They are welcome to come whenever they want. Even before this, they have raided me twice but all went into vain. This is all politics and last time they did it during the Punjab elections also. ED, CBI all are welcome. I am ready, if they want to arrest me, they can arrest me,” and continued, “we will not take back steps because of all these. We are all way ready to fight the election”.
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Kejriwal also showed support to his fellow party member, noting that the ED had conducted two previous raids against Jain, but they didn’t find anything then either. The Chief Minister added that they’re welcome to try this time as well. Notably, the ED responds to the central government, which is currently led by Narendra Modi, and by extension, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The AAP chief referred to this, saying, “With elections nearing, Central agencies are also becoming active. BJP can send all agencies. Not only, Satyendar Jain but they can also send them to me, Manish Sisodia, Bhagwant Mann. We will welcome them with a smile”.
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The 117-seat Punjab assembly election was set to witness the polling take place in a single phase on February 14. Now, it has been shifted to February 20, in light of Ravidas Jayanti. Votes will be counted and the results announced on March 10. In the 2017 state elections, AAP had finished second.
