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Experts Divided Over AAP's Existential Crisis Amid Questioning by ED

One of the top politicians of the Aam Aadmi Party, Manish Sisodia, has been in prison since 26 February this year over a money laundering case related to an alleged liquor policy scam.
Sputnik
Delhi State Chief and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal will be appearing before Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday in Delhi for questioning in a money laundering case linked with now-scrapped liquor policy.

The federal economic intelligence agency had summoned Kejriwal on Monday, the same day when former Delhi Deputy State Chief and senior AAP politician Manish Sisodia was denied bail by the Supreme Court in corruption and money laundering case related to the Delhi liquor policy case.

Ever since, the ED has summoned the AAP chief there has been a political uproar over it as the AAP has claimed that Kejriwal will be arrested on 2 November.

Minister in the AAP-led Delhi government Atishi, during a press conference, said that “BJP is using these tactics to target the AAP as the party knows that it cannot defeat Arvind Kejriwal in the elections”.

Meanwhile, BJP national spokesman Shehzad Poonawalla in a tweet said that “Kejriwal is the kingpin of the liquor scam and it is a scam by Kejriwal, of Kejriwal and for Kejriwal”.
Sputnik India reached out to political experts to understand that is summon by ED a fresh trouble for AAP and if Kejriwal is arrested then will AAP face an existential crisis.

“Summon by ED is not a fresh trouble because anyone who has been involved in corruption will face the consequences. However, the AAP is trying to play victim card by showcasing that its members who have been arrested and are being questioned are honest and not involved in any kind of corruption, but investigations by various agencies spell out [a] different story,” political expert Vinod Shukla told Sputnik India.

He further stated that it has been the style of the AAP to claim that its members will be arrested and gain public sympathy, but now this won’t work because it has been exposed.
Talking about the existential crisis for the AAP if Kejriwal gets arrested, Shukla said the ED will arrest Kejriwal only if they have substantial proofs and if this happens there will be huge crisis for AAP.

“I think that there will be an existential crisis for AAP because it is a one-man show run by Kejriwal. He knows to manage the things, but it will be difficult for other prominent faces of the party to manage the situation,” the political analyst said.

He further added that there are only three prominent members in the AAP after Kejriwal now – Atishi, Raghav Chaddha and Saurabh Bharadwaj – but they don’t have the calibre to replace him.
Meanwhile, another political expert Prem Kumar told Sputnik India that summon from ED to Kejriwal spells trouble for his party because this seems to create a divide in the newly-formed opposition alliance as no one from Congress has stood up for Kejriwal.
On the AAP's existential crisis if Kejriwal gets arrested, Kumar differed with Shukla as he opined that there is a crisis but not an existential crisis as the party will rather use it politically to gain support and hence it will get strengthen.
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