BJP's attempt at revenge for AAP's Chandigarh mayoral poll victory: Atishi

ED summons to Delhi CM Kejriwal seen as BJP revenge for AAP's Chandigarh mayoral poll win, alleges Atishi.

A fresh summons issued by the ED to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is an attempt by the BJP to take "revenge" for the Supreme Court verdict on the Chandigarh mayoral poll in favour of the AAP, party leader Atishi alleged on February 22.

There was no immediate reaction from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) or the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to the allegation.

Addressing a press conference at the Delhi Assembly, Ms. Atishi claimed that the ED summons was an attempt to scare Mr. Kejriwal and the AAP.

The ED has issued a seventh summons to Mr. Kejriwal, asking him to appear before the agency on February 26 for questioning in a money-laundering case linked to the now-scrapped excise policy for Delhi for 2021-22, official sources said on February 22.

Mr. Kejriwal has so far skipped all the summonses issued by the ED, terming those "illegal".

"This summons is just an attempt at revenge by the BJP for the Supreme Court upholding democracy in its verdict on the Chandigarh mayoral poll. This is a revenge for the AAP's victory in the Chandigarh mayoral poll," Ms. Atishi said.

A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice D. Y. Chandrachud on February 20 overturned the result of the Chandigarh mayoral poll, in which the BJP candidate had emerged an unlikely winner, and declared the AAP-Congress alliance nominee, Kuldeep Kumar, as the new Mayor.