AAP Has Not Parted Ways With INDIA Alliance: Delhi CM Kejriwal

Delhi CM and AAP National Convener Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said that his party has not parted ways with the INDIA alliance amid a rift between the Punjab units of the Congress and the AAP over the arrest of an MLA.

Both the AAP and Congress are at the loggerheads in Punjab after Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira was arrested in the 2015 drug case.

"AAP is committed to INDIA Alliance. AAP will not separate ways from INDIA Alliance...Yesterday I heard that the Punjab Police arrested a particular leader (Sukhpal Singh Khaira) yesterday in connection with drugs," Kejriwal said at a press conference.

The Delhi CM said that he does not have the details about the case and the media should ask the Punjab Police about it. He said, "But Bhagwant Mann Govt is committed, AAP goverment is committed to end drug menace...In the fight against it, nobody will be spared however big or small they might be," ANI quoted him in a tweet.

Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira was arrested by the Punjab Police in connection with a 2015 drugs case on Thursday morning.

A special investigation team led by Deputy Inspector General of Police Swapan Sharma was formed in April 2023 and Khaira was arrested based on its investigation into the 2015 case, PTI reported official sources.

The Congress MLA, who has been critical of the AAP government on various issues, slammed the AAP government, accusing it of arresting him in a "false" case and that "jungle raj" was prevailing in the state.

Meanwhile, the Punjab Congress hit out at the AAP government, accusing it of indulging in political vendetta. The Congress state unit chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa strongly condemned the arrest of Khaira.

The drugs case, dating back to March 2015 in Jalalabad, Fazilka, initially led to the booking and subsequent conviction of nine individuals under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. The recovery included 2 kg of heroin, 24 gold biscuits, one country-made pistol, a .315-bore pistol, and two Pakistani SIM cards.

Later in the police investigation, Khaira's involvement emerged.

However, in 2017, the Supreme Court halted the trial court proceedings against Khaira, who had been summoned as an additional accused in the case. Subsequently, in 2021, he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on money laundering charges related to the 2015 drug case. He was granted bail in 2022.

In February 2023, the apex court dismissed the summoning order against Khaira in the 2015 drugs case.