AAP MLAs urge Arvind Kejriwal to continue as Delhi CM even if he is arrested

New Delhi, Nov 6 (PTI) The AAP said on Monday that all party MLAs have urged Arvind Kejriwal to continue as the chief minister of Delhi even if he is arrested by any investigative agency.

Kejriwal was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate last week for questioning in connection with its money laundering probe linked to the alleged excise police scam, but he skipped the summons saying it was "politically motivated".

The chief minister called a meeting of AAP MLAs Monday amid a furore over recent actions by central probe agencies against ministers and leaders of the party.

After the meeting, Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said all the MLAs present in the meeting told Kejriwal that "if he is arrested, he will continue to be chief minister since he has been given the mandate by the people of Delhi to run the government." "All of them had a unanimous view that the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are scared of Arvind Kejriwal. The BJP knows that it cannot oust Kejriwal from power through elections and it can only be done by hatching a conspiracy," Bharadwaj told reporters.

Bharadwaj said officers will go to jail for meetings and "if we are called, we will be happy to go".

"The conditions look like we will also be in jail soon. So it might be possible that Atishi will be lodged in jail number 2 and I in jail number 1 and we will hold cabinet meetings inside jail. We will ensure that the work for the people of Delhi is not stopped," he said.

Minister Atishi said that if Kejriwal is arrested, they will approach court to seek permission for him to carry out official work from jail.

Last week, the ED raided Delhi minister Raaj Kumar Anand's residence in a separate money laundering probe.

Party MP Sanjay Singh was arrested by the ED recently after an hours-long raid at his residence in connection with the alleged excise policy scam. PTI