Arvind Kejriwal's arrest: Punjab BJP chief demands ED probe into Delhi excise policy

Chandigarh: Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar on Friday said a party delegation will approach the Election Commission and seek an ED probe into the state's excise policy, which he claimed was tailored in lines with the one in Delhi.

"For the (Delhi) excise policy which Kejriwal had to see this day, the same model has been replicated by their government in Punjab," Jakhar told reporters here.

Kejriwal, AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday night in an excise policy-linked money laundering case in Delhi, triggering massive protests by party workers in the national capital and a few states.

Jakhar said a high-powered delegation of BJP will go and meet authorities of the Election Commission on Saturday to demand a ED probe.

The same excise policy under which many Delhi ministers have been jailed has been implemented in Punjab by Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann, he said. The BJP leader said that Kejriwal should have resigned immediately after his arrest but his party leaders are saying that Kejriwal would continue as chief minister.

This shows that the AAP supremo does not trust his party's leaders and the party is "power hungry", Jakhar added.

The state BJP chief said that Congress leaders in the state who had demanded an ED probe into the excise policy earlier should also approach the Election Commission.

"Kejriwal will go into the annals of history as the first sitting chief minister to go to jail in an excise policy case," he said.