Arvind Kejriwal Seeks ‘Trust Vote’ Ahead of ED Appearance in Delhi Liquorgate

Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal moved a ‘confidence motion’ in the assembly on Friday, a day before he has to answer the summons of the Rouse Avenue Court, after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) complained against him for skipping five summons in the liquor scam case. This is the third time in two years that the AAP has moved a ‘confidence motion’ in the House.

Speaker Ram Niwas Goel has posted the discussion on the proposal on Saturday. The chief minister’s move also comes ahead of the ED’s sixth summons to appear before it on February 19.

Speaking in the House, Kejriwal said, “A few days ago, two Members of Legislative Assembly (MLA) came to me separately on different days. Both said the same thing: “The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has approached us. They told us that we will arrest your chief minister after a few days. We have already contacted 21 MLAs and they have agreed to leave the party and are also contacting others. We will give you Rs 25 crore. You join our party. We will give you a ticket to fight the elections. And, if you want something else, let us know. But we refused"."

Kejriwal said that the party contacted every MLA and found out that the BJP allegedly got in touch with not 21, but seven MLAs. “They have hatched ‘Operation Lotus’ many times, and they are trying to hatch it once more. However, according to our information, all 21 MLAs refused the offer," Kejriwal claimed.

The chief minister further alleged: “The liquor scam is not a scam. The purpose is not to investigate. Just as in some other states where they are toppling governments and breaking up parties on false cases, in Delhi, on the pretext of the liquor scam, they will arrest…and they have already arrested many AAP leaders… and topple the government. This is because they know that they cannot win the elections in Delhi in their lifetime. Therefore, they will use any and every method to topple the government here."

Kejriwal reiterated a charge that he had first posted on X on January 22. “To see and to show people that not a single MLA has broken away and all MLAs are with us, I move the confidence motion that this House has confidence in the council of ministers," he said.

DELHI ASSEMBLY NUMBER SPEAK

The Delhi assembly has 70 members with the AAP having a brute majority of 62 and the BJP just 8. The Congress does not have a single member in the assembly.

Given the sheer numbers, the confidence motion is expected to sail through. The BJP, which is AAP’s opponent in the House, has not moved any “no-confidence" motion against the chief minister.

Meanwhile, the Speaker Ram Niwas Goel suspended 7 out of 8 BJP MLAs for the remainder of the Budget session on a motion moved by AAP MLA Dilip Pandey for ‘disrupting’ the speech of Lieutenant Governor Vinai Saxena the previous day. Notably, Leader of the opposition Ramveer Bidhuri is the only BJP member in the house.

KEJRIWAL & ED

In response to the ED’s complaint on February 6, the Rouse Avenue Court had said that Kejriwal is legally bound to appear in person in pursuance of the summons, but purportedly failed to do so and prima facie an offence under Section 174 IPC , 1980 is made out. There are sufficient grounds for proceeding under Section 204 of CrPC, 1973 against him, it said.

In his multiple responses to the ED, the CM termed the summons “illegal" and “politically motivated". The AAP has said that it will place its arguments in the court to explain why the CM did not appear before the ED. Part of the defence will be mentions of “Operation Lotus", through which the AAP claims the BJP is trying to topple the government, alleged tampering of audio of investigations of witnesses, statements such as “purpose is to arrest not investigate" and BJP leaders’ claims that “Kejriwal will be arrested".

AAP’s top leaders Sisodia, MP Sanjay Singh and communication in-charge Vijay Nair are already in jail for periods between five months to over one year.

THE EARLIER NO-CONFIDENCE MOTION

Kejriwal on March 29 last year moved a ‘confidence motion’. He had claimed that the opposition wanted to move a ‘no-confidence ‘ motion but could not muster the numbers and therefore, to counter that he was moving a confidence motion.

Earlier on August 29, 2022, after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raids at then deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia’s house ahead of the Gujarat elections, Kejriwal had moved a confidence motion to “prove that Operation Lotus may have succeeded in other states, but failed in Delhi". He had also said that Sisodia would be arrested, which he was, approximately six months later on February 26, 2023, and continues to be in jail.

The assembly had passed the confidence motion after three days on September 1, 2022, with 58 votes in favour as the BJP walked out. This time, the move comes after the ED has issued summons to Kejriwal with increased frequency. It is possible that the discussions that begin on February 17 will spill over to February 19, which is when the ED has summoned the chief minister.

BUDGET SESSION DELAYED

Additionally, the presentation of the Delhi budget has already been delayed. Finance minister Atishi told the House on Thursday: “We received the LG’s approval on February 14. The budget was passed by the cabinet on February 11 and was sent to the LG for assent on February 13. There has been no delay from the LG’s side. The budget will be sent to the MHA on the 15th. It takes approximately 10-15 days for the budget approval and assent by the President. Accordingly, I feel, it won’t be presented before February 25."

The budget session of the Delhi assembly has been extended and the budget is expected to be presented in the last week of February or the first week of March.