The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday slammed the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) raids at their party leader Saurabh Bharadwaj's residence, calling it a "politically motivated" action orchestrated by the BJP.
The ED is conducting searches at 13 locations, in addition to Bharadwaj's residence, in connection with a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the construction of hospitals in the national capital.
The search operation at Bharadwaj's residence began in the morning and was still underway at the time of reporting.
AAP national convener and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called the raids "another case of the Modi government misusing agencies".
Taking to X, he said, "The Modi government has gone after the Aam Aadmi Party. The way AAP is being targeted has never been done to any party in history. AAP is being targeted because it is the most vocal voice against the Modi government's wrong policies and corrupt deeds. The Modi government wants to suppress our voice. This will never happen."
Kejriwal said the AAP will "not be scared of these BJP raids".
"We will continue to raise our voice against wrong policies and corruption in the interest of the country, as always," he added.
Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Delhi Assembly, Atishi, also criticised the ED raids, calling them "politically motivated" and claimed that Bharadwaj was not a minister when the alleged irregularities happened in the construction projects.
"At the time of the case being mentioned, Saurabh ji was not even a minister. This means the entire case is false. Satyendra ji was also kept in jail for three years, and ultimately, CBI/ED had to submit a closure report. This clearly shows that all the cases against Aam Aadmi Party leaders are nothing but lies and politically motivated," she said.
AAP leader and former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia also condemned the ED raids, calling them "fake" and saying, "In the era that this case is being said to belong to, Saurabh was not even a minister at that time."
"Remember Satyendra Jain. He was kept in jail for three years, CBI and ED scoured day and night, but no evidence was found. The truth is that all these cases are fake. The real fight is not for the truth, but to suppress the honesty of the Aam Aadmi Party," Sisodia posted on X.
AAP Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh also claimed that Bharadwaj was not a minister when the alleged scam happened.
"This entire case is false. After keeping Satyendra Jain in jail for three years, CBI/ED filed a closure report in court. This makes it clear that all the cases filed against Aam Aadmi Party leaders are false," Singh said in a video message on X.
"The entire country knows about the honesty and truth of the AAP leaders, and no one can stop them by filing fake cases," he added.
According to the sources, the matter is linked to alleged irregularities in several hospital projects in which there were accusations of large-scale financial mismanagement and embezzlement.
The Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) was the first to flag the alleged scam.
The ACB investigation revealed that in 2018-19, as many as 24 hospital projects were sanctioned in Delhi at an estimated cost of around Rs 5,500 crore.
These included 11 greenfield projects and 13 brownfield projects. However, despite approvals, the projects were subjected to unwarranted delays while costs escalated significantly, raising strong suspicions of corruption and financial misconduct.
In addition to Bharadwaj, AAP leader Satyendar Jain is also being investigated in this case.
Bharadwaj, who earlier represented the Greater Kailash constituency in the Delhi Assembly, held important portfolios in the previous AAP government, including Health, Urban Development and Water.
--IANS
