BJP using central agencies for political gain: Arvind Kejriwal

AAP president Arvind Kejriwal accused the BJP of using central agencies for political ends and alleged that ED’s repeated actions in Punjab were aimed at intimidating the state leadership. Punjab PPP chief Sunil Jakhar accused the Mann government of harboring corruption.The ED has been active in Punjab for over a month, during which time seven AAP Rajya Sabha MPs defected to the BJP, including two who had been raided by the agency.Sources said ED raided other addresses in Delhi, Gurgaon and Chandigarh, including properties of Hampton Sky Realty Ltd promoted by the Arora family. The company issued a statement saying it had “full faith in the established facts, the country’s legal and constitutional framework and the wisdom of the judiciary.” The company’s statement said that when it came to know about the fraud committed by the “vendor”, “the company itself approached the police as a complainant” and an FIR was filed with the Ludhiana police station on May 17, 2025, of which it was itself a “victim”. It added that its transaction had caused “no current loss to the government’s finances”.Arora was arrested after a search was conducted at his official residence in Chandigarh’s Sector 2.This is the third time Arora has faced an ED lawsuit this year. It first raided the office premises in Arora in connection with a money laundering probe related to the alleged misuse of industrial land for residential projects in Ludhiana. At that time, he was a member of the Federal Council. In June 2025, AAP fielded MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi in the Ludhiana West district bypoll after his death to retain the seat.A few weeks ago, the agency conducted searches under the Foreign Exchange Management Act and provisionally seized assets worth over Rs 157 crore related to Arora and Hampton Sky. Sources said the latest investigation involves allegedly illicit funds being purchased on “fake” GST worth Rs 100 crore and exported to “round trip” from Dubai to India.Reacting to Arora’s arrest, CM Mann said, “The BJP has a deep-seated hatred for Punjab…BJP’s polarization strategy will not work here. ED and CBI are being used as weapons to intimidate leaders of rival parties into joining the BJP…” Leader of Opposition in Parliament Partap Singh Bajwa said Arora’s arrest exposed serious corruption allegations against the ruling party in Punjab. He also questioned the BJP-led alliance government and central agencies over the timing of the operations.