Be it Arvind Kejriwal or Hemant Soren, every corrupt leader will be punished: BJP

New Delhi: The BJP on Wednesday assailed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren for repeatedly skipping the ED summons and asserted that every “corrupt leader” will be “punished” for their misdeeds under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rule.

The party also questioned why Kejriwal did not approach the courts if he felt the action against him was politically motivated.

“Gone are the days when corrupt leaders used to rule over the honest citizenry of the country. The only place for the corrupt leaders is behind bars and it is our firm resolve that every corrupt leader will be punished as per law,” BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has zero tolerance for corruption and the probe agencies have been given a "free hand" to work independently and take action against graft without any bias, the BJP leader stressed.

Bhatia said that leaders will have to face the “consequences of their misdeeds and corruption” they have indulged in, “be it Kejriwal, Soren or anyone else”.

"Such dramas will not help because Kejriwal knows that handcuffs are coming closer to him," he alleged at a press conference at the BJP headquarters here.

The “power of law” and the people's faith are with the central probe agencies, he said.

The BJP’s reaction came after AAP convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal skipped the third summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the Delhi excise policy case and sent a written reply calling the notice illegal.

Jharkhand Chief Minister and JMM leader Soren has also skipped as many as seven summons issued by the ED in a money laundering case.

"Outright dishonest and sinister Arvind Kejriwal is shaking in fear and making one after another lame excuse to skip ED summons," Bhatia claimed "It won't be wrong to say that Kejriwal is afraid today because he knows that his arrest is imminent, he is aware that he is the kingpin and has no answers (to ED's questions). That's why he is trying to evade the process of law," the BJP spokesperson told reporters at a press conference at the party headquarters.

The BJP leader said it would have never happened in the history of independent India that someone "ordered" a probe agency to withdraw its summons.

"But a corrupt and sinister Arvind Kejriwal tells ED to withdraw its summons. Mr Arvind Kejriwal, you are not above the law," he charged, saying it is the right of the probe agencies to take action against corruption "as per evidence".

Bhatia contended that if Kejriwal felt that the ED had issued summons to him out of any alleged "political vendetta", he should have approached the court seeking relief.

"Why didn't he approach court so far if the ED's summonses are politically motivated? He is not able to muster the courage (to approach court) because he knows the truth that he is the kingpin of the liquor scam," Bhatia further said.

Former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, arrested in connection with the case earlier, were just his "puppets", he said.

Kejriwal, who once used to talk about eradicating corruption in India, has himself become a "corrupt termite" in politics, and he has a misconception that he is above the law, Bhatia alleged.

"Arvind Kejriwal, you have mastered the art of deceit, corruption and propaganda and this has become synonymous with you," he charged.

On AAP's allegation that the BJP-led Centre is hatching a conspiracy to arrest Kejriwal to stop him from campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls, Bhatia said probe agencies are "honestly biting corrupts like eagles, seeking from them details of people's hard-earned money".

"If you have not done any dishonesty, what is there to be scared of... Kejriwal should have appeared before the ED and answered its questions," the BJP leader said, asking the AAP national convenor to "let the truth come out".

Bhatia also targeted the INDIA bloc of opposition parties, questioning their "silence" on the issue of corruption, and slammed Soren, whose party Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) is one of the constituents of the opposition alliance, for skipping the ED’s summons.

“Hemant Soren evading the summons clearly reveals the same mindset that I have just discussed in the case of Arvind Kejriwal that first you loot, indulge in corruption and then when questions are asked and you are made accountable for your misdeeds and corruption, you evade the summons,” the BJP leader said.

Referring to media reports claiming that Soren plans to step down as Jharkhand chief minister and install his wife Kalpana Soren as his successor in view of his "imminent arrest", Bhatia said, “They (JMM) are preparing for the consequences of an arrest that could be made by the investigative agency as it comes under its domain.

“But who have they selected (to replace Soren)? It’s again someone from his own family. All this is media speculation but it reveals the dynastic mindset (of the JMM leadership),” the BJP spokesperson said.

“The BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have always said that the INDI alliance is synonymous with corruption. Their leaders are either in jail or on bail. And it is so because an honest government has given a free hand to the probe agencies so that they are not scared of anyone,” Bhatia said.

“I would only say with full confidence that no corrupt (person) is above the law and no corrupt (person) will survive," he said.

Those who have committed corruption will be in jail no matter how many excuses they make. Their right place is behind bars, the BJP spokesperson said.