Kejriwal 'invited' ED arrest by not responding to its notices: Himanta

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal effectively invited his own arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) due to his repeated failure to respond to summonses, suggesting that it might have been a tactic to garner political sympathy.

Sarma emphasised that when a person disregards nine summonses from the ED, it indicates a deliberate invitation for arrest.

He remarked that if Kejriwal had complied with the initial summonses, his arrest might have been avoided.

Speaking to reporters at the state BJP headquarters here after a poll-preparedness meeting on Saturday, Sarma said, "If the ED serves someone nine summonses and that person doesn't show up, it is evident that he is inviting his arrest. The ED didn't arrest Kejriwal, he invited the agency to arrest him."

The BJP leader cited the examples of politicians such as Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, who appeared before the ED when they were issued summonses, implying that Kejriwal's actions deviated from this norm.

When questioned about Kejriwal's refusal to comply with the summonses, Sarma speculated about potential political motivations, suggesting that it could have been a strategy to elicit sympathy from the public.

The ED arrested Kejriwal on Friday, hours after the Delhi High Court refused to grant him protection from coercive action by the federal anti-money laundering agency.