Daily Briefing: Kejriwal’s defence in court; discussions around Central rule in Delhi; and more

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➤ Arrested a week ago by the ED over his involvement in the Delhi liquor policy case, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal told a Delhi court that the central probe agency has two motives: To create a smokescreen to crush the AAP, and to create an extortion racket. Kejriwal argued his own case and told the judge he was “ready to join the investigation”.

➤ During the hearing of the case, names of two key figures embroiled in the excise policy scam came up — four-time MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy and his son Raghava Magunta Reddy. However, they are away from the national capital, busy campaigning for BJP ally Telugu Desam Party, with the former expected to get a ticket from Andhra Pradesh’s Ongole. Raghava is, in fact, one of the approvers based on whose statement the ED has built its case against Kejriwal.

➤ As the BJP turned up the heat on a “Constitutional crisis” in Delhi with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal still in Enforcement Directorate custody a week after his arrest, and AAP minister Atishi saying any move to impose President’s rule in Delhi would be an act of “political vendetta”, The Indian Express has learnt that discussions around that option have “gathered pace” at the highest levels.

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With the BJP and Opposition parties sparring over Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest, Ruchi Gupta, in today’s Opinion section, writes on why the Indian public does not seem to care about it.

From the First Page

Jailed gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari died on Thursday night after he suffered a cardiac arrest in Banda prison in Uttar Pradesh. Convicted in eight cases in the last two years, 63-year-old Ansari is a five-time MLA from Mau constituency in eastern UP, besides being a history-sheeter with a total of 65 cases against him in different police stations of UP and Delhi.

Eight months after NCP leader Praful Patel, along with Ajit Pawar and other party leaders, joined the NDA, the CBI has filed a closure report in the Air India-Indian Airlines merger case. Patel, in his capacity as Union Civil Aviation Minister during the merger, was among the key suspects in the case and had been questioned by the CBI and ED.

Over 5,000 Indians are trapped in Cambodia, where they are allegedly being held against their will and forced to carry out cyber frauds on people back home. The government estimates that the fraudsters have allegedly duped people of at least Rs 500 crore in India over the past six months.

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Fireworks were guaranteed in the Krishnanagar seat in West Bengal, given how the BJP and sitting Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra slugged it out in the outgoing Lok Sabha. The BJP has now added an extra spark with its choice of candidate. If its chief line of attack against Mahua is her lifestyle — with her making it clear she won’t be apologetic about it — the BJP has picked someone who will match her at least in this department.

What if a powder derived from stem cells could heal your accident wounds and regenerate tissues without reconstruction surgery? Or a wearable device could fight mild COVID-19? These futuristic innovations are part of an incubator programme for health-tech start-ups at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

Over the past year, multiple Opposition-ruled states including Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Punjab, have approached the Supreme Court about Governors withholding assent to Bills for long periods of time. The Kerala government last week approached the SC saying President Murmu had withheld assent to four Bills passed by the state “while disclosing no reason whatsoever”. We explain.

And Finally…

🏏 IPL 2024: While Delhi Capitals set up last night’s game with early breakthroughs, Riyan Parag, in his new role, turned the tide. The 22-year-old’s 45-balled 84 plotted Rajasthan Royal’s 12-run win over Delhi, while Nandre Burger and Avesh Khan provided closing touches.

Although the BJP had taken a series of steps to woo the Christian community in Kerala, the state BJP leaders are complaining that the same does not reflect in the list of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls. Read today’s Delhi Confidential to know more!

🎧 In the latest episode of our ‘3 Things’ podcast, we discuss the comments made by the US and Germany regarding Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest, the split verdict delivered by the Bombay High Court regarding the Government’s ‘fact-checking unit’, and Archaeological Survey of India’s decision to delist 18 “centrally protected monuments”.

Until tomorrow,

Ayesha Jain and Rounak Bagchi