AAP dares ED to file case against BJP, alleges it received crores from liquor 'scam' accused
New Delhi (PTI): The AAP asked the ED on Saturday to file a case against the BJP, alleging that the saffron party received crores of rupees from an accused in the alleged Delhi excise policy scam through electoral bonds.
Addressing a press conference, Delhi minister Atishi asserted that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has not been able to establish a money trail against any Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader despite multiple raids, arrests and two-year-long investigations in the alleged liquor scam.
"Two days ago, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested in connection with the alleged liquor scam on the basis of Sarath Reddy's statement. On November 9, 2022, Reddy had said he did not know Kejriwal. After the ED arrested him, he changed his statement, saying he knew Kejriwal," Atishi said.
Reddy of Aurobindo Pharma was arrested by the federal agency in November last year in connection with the excise policy case. Atishi alleged that Reddy donated crores of rupees to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) through electoral bonds.
No comments were available from Reddy or his company over the charges levelled by the AAP.
There was no immediate reaction to the allegations from the BJP either.
A court on Friday remanded Kejriwal in the ED's custody till March 28 "for his detailed and sustained interrogation" regarding his role in the excise policy "scam".
Atishi challenged the ED to file a case against the BJP, alleging that the money trail in the case had reached the saffron party.
She alleged that the BJP received "proceeds of crime" in its bank accounts and said the agency should arrest the saffron party's chief, J P Nadda.
Union minister Anurag Thakur hit out at the AAP earlier in the day, saying, "The kingpin has been arrested and the one who gave us wisdom on morality and honesty says he will run the government from jail," the senior BJP leader said.
He said the AAP's links with liquor traders need to be found out.
AAP leaders, including Atishi, Saurabh Bharadwaj, Jasmine Shah and the party's chief national spokesperson, Priyanka Kakkar, slammed the BJP over the issue.
Atishi alleged in a statement that Reddy's company has given Rs 59.5 crore to the BJP.
"The companies owned by Sarath Reddy bought electoral bonds and donated money to the BJP. Now, this money trail has been exposed in front of the country. Reddy purchased electoral bonds worth Rs 4.5 crore while the excise policy was being formulated and after his arrest, he purchased electoral bonds worth Rs 55 crore and the money went to the BJP. So the money trail that has been sought for the past two years is here," she charged.
Bharadwaj told the press conference that serious questions have been raised against the BJP since details of the electoral bonds have come in the public domain.
Shah alleged that evidence and facts prove that the BJP has committed the biggest "political scam" in the country's history.
"We (AAP) have extensively exposed this open-and-shut case of political corruption by the BJP through this press conference. The AAP has placed all the facts before the people of the country," he said.
Kakkar said there is no evidence against AAP leaders in the excise policy case but those from the BJP keep claiming otherwise.
She alleged that the ED is targeting the AAP and its leaders for the last two years even though it could not find a penny worth of evidence.
Aurobindo Pharma bought electoral bonds worth Rs 52 crore with more than half of it going to the BJP, according to data released by the Election Commission.
The Hyderabad-based firm purchased the bonds between April 3, 2021 and November 8, 2023 and an amount of Rs 34.5 crore was donated by it to the BJP, Rs 15 crore to the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and Rs 2.5 crore to the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).
In June last year, Reddy turned approver in the case after a Delhi court allowed him to do so. Before that, the ED had accused him of indulging in unfair market practices to gain undue advantages from the liquor policy by conspiring with business owners and politicians involved in the excise case.
The ED has arrested Kejriwal, former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and AAP's Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh in a money-laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the Delhi excise policy for 2021-22.
The AAP government scrapped the policy after Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena recommended a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities in July 2022.
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Iran offers to reopen Strait of Hormuz if US lifts its blockade and the war ends: officials
Cairo (AP): Iran has offered to end its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for the US lifting its blockade on the country and an end to the war, while proposing that discussions on the larger question of its nuclear programme would come in a later phase, two regional officials said Monday.
US President Donald Trump seems unlikely to accept the offer, which was passed to the Americans by Pakistan and would leave unresolved the disagreements that led the US and Israel to go to war on February 28.
With a fragile ceasefire in place, the US and Iran are locked in a standoff over the strait, through which a fifth of the world's traded oil and gas passes in peacetime. The US blockade is designed to prevent Iran from selling its oil, depriving it of crucial revenue while also potentially creating a situation where Tehran has to shut off production because it has nowhere to store the oil.
The strait's closure, meanwhile, has put pressure on Trump, as oil and gasoline prices have skyrocketed ahead of crucial midterm elections, and it has pressured his Gulf allies, which use the waterway to export their oil and gas.
The closure has also had far-reaching effects throughout the world economy, raising the price of fertilizer, food and other basic goods.
The proposal would push off negotiations on Iran's nuclear programme to a later date. Trump said one of the major reasons he went to war was to deny Iran the ability to develop nuclear weapons.
The two officials, who had knowledge of the proposal, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door negotiations between Iranian and Pakistani officials this weekend. The Axios news outlet first reported Iran's proposal.
It came as Iran's foreign minister visited Russia, which has long been a key backer of Tehran. It's unclear what, if any, assistance Moscow might offer now.
Strait of Hormuz remains blocked
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Iran's ability to choke off traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, has proved one of its biggest strategic advantages in a war that has often boiled down to which side can take more pain.
Oil prices have risen steadily since the war began and tankers full of crude became stranded in the Persian Gulf, unable to safely transit through the strait and reach global distribution points.
On Monday, the spot price of Brent crude, the international standard, was trading at around $108 per barrel, nearly 50 per cent higher than when the war began.
Iranian foreign minister holds talks as negotiations with US stall
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Trump last week indefinitely extended the ceasefire the US and Iran agreed to on April 7 that has largely halted fighting. But a permanent settlement remains elusive in the war that has killed thousands of people.
Iran's state-run IRNA news agency said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi landed in St. Petersburg on Monday morning ahead of a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“It is a good opportunity for us to consult with our Russian friends about the developments that have occurred in relation to the war during this period and what is happening now,” Araghchi said in a video interview posted by IRNA.
It comes as Pakistan has been seeking to revive stalled talks between Iran and the US, and negotiations had been expected in Islamabad over the weekend. Instead, Trump called off a trip by his envoys and suggested the talks could take place by phone instead.
Over the weekend, Araghchi made two stops in Pakistan and a visit to Oman, which shares the strait with Iran. He also spoke by phone with counterparts in Qatar and Saudi Arabia on Sunday.
Iran wants to persuade Oman to support a mechanism to collect tolls from vessels passing through the strait, according to a regional official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to discuss the matter.
Oman's response wasn't immediately clear.
The official, who is involved in mediation efforts, also said Iran insisted on ending the US blockade before new talks and that Pakistan-led mediators are trying to bridge significant gaps between the countries.
Trump says Iran has offered a much better proposal
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Trump told journalists Saturday that after he called off a trip by his envoys to Pakistan, Iran sent a “much better” proposal.
He did not elaborate but stressed that one of his conditions is that Iran “will not have a nuclear weapon”.
Iran insists its programme is peaceful, but the US wants to remove Tehran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which could be used to build a bomb, should Tehran choose to pursue one.
Since the war began, at least 3,375 people have been killed in Iran and at least 2,509 people in Lebanon, where fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group resumed two days after the Iran war started. Another 23 people have been killed in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Fifteen Israeli soldiers in Lebanon, 13 US service members in the region and six UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon have been killed.
The ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah has been extended by three weeks. Hezbollah has not participated in the Washington-brokered diplomacy.
