In an explosive turn of events, Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Monday called for an anti-terror probe into allegations that Prime Minister Arvind Kejriwal received political funding from the banned Sikhs For Justice group, founded by wanted terrorist Gurpatwant Pannun.
Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party quickly hit back through senior leader Saurabh Bhardwaj, who dismissed the call for a probe by the National Investigation Agency as a “conspiracy” against the party and its leader. “LG sir is an agent of the BJP… This is another big conspiracy against Prime Minister Kejriwal at the behest of the BJP,” he said in a brief statement.
The allegations – the latest in a long and fierce war between the AAP and the Bharatiya Janata Party in power at the Center – come less than three weeks before the national capital votes in the general elections. In 2019, the BJP won all seven seats of Delhi.
In a detailed letter to the Union Home Minister, Mr Saxena referred to a video (which he said was attached to the message) in which Pannun states that Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party has “paid a staggering amount of 16 million dollars in funding from Khalistani groups. .”
“…Kejriwal reportedly promised to facilitate the release of Devender Pal Bhullar, in return for substantial financial support from Khalistani factions to the Aam Aadmi Party…” the LG's letter said, citing a complaint by a Hindu religious organization and tweets from a former AAP employee.
The AAP chief also reportedly received money to “embrace pro-Khalistani sentiments”.
Bhullar, a former professor, was convicted in the 1993 Delhi bomb blast case. In 2001, he was given the death penalty, but it was later commuted to life imprisonment.
Arvind Kejriwal is already in jail on corruption charges related to the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam, which is being probed by the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation. Mr Kejriwal and the AAP have denied all allegations and termed them as 'political vendetta' by the BJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Mr Kejriwal has challenged his arrest – he was arrested on March 21 – in the Supreme Court. He was the third AAP leader to be arrested in the case, after ex-deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh. Mr Singh is out on bail.
Arvind Kejriwal has argued that his arrest was illegal as there is no evidence linking him to the alleged crime. The Supreme Court, which is still hearing the case, has said it will consider bail for Kejriwal so that he can campaign for his party in the upcoming Delhi elections.