'Will quit politics if any wrongdoing is proved against me': AAP Punjab chief Aman Arora on ED raids
Arora said that the ED raids in New Chandigarh were politically motivated, targeting him through realtor Gaurav Dhir
"I will quit politics for good, if any wrongdoing is proved against me," declared Aam Aadmi Party’s Punjab president Aman Arora, a day after the Directorate of Enforcement conducted searches on two real estate developers in New Chandigarh and named one of the developers as being a close associate of Arora.
Arora, in no unclear terms, also said that the ED raids were politically motivated, targeting him through realtor Gaurav Dhir. “Baat chali kahin aur se, le gaye kahin aur… it started with the bags of cash being flung from the balcony of a house. How they (ED) suddenly wove the story around me, just to get at me, is shocking,” he said, adding that one of the persons under investigation, Suresh Kumar Bajaj, had in fact given a donation of Rs 2.50 lakh to the BJP in 2023-24.
“The politics of arm twisting and defamation of Aman Arora will not work. I have spent 35 years in politics and four years as minister. I held the Housing department charge for just eight months in 2022-23. If any builder comes forward to say I extracted any kind of favour, I assure you I will quit politics. I am here only for carrying forward the political legacy of my late father and serving people through clean politics,” he said.
Asked if the two alleged middle men, Nitin Gohal and Pritpal Singh Dhindsa, whose premises were searched yesterday were close aides of a senior functionary in Chief Ministers Office, Arora quipped that the CM had already clarified on the issue by saying that his government or party had nothing to do with these men.
Arora said that the ED issued two statements regarding the searches. In the first one, his name was not there, but in the second one, his name was suddenly added as being an associate of Gaurav Dhir. “Gaurav is a personal friend for the past three decades. He has committed no wrong-doing, but has been targetted only so that the ED can hit me. I have never had any financial dealings with him. I challenge ED that I will come to you personally. You can even do forensic examination of my phone to see any links with any person involved in a wrongdoing,” he said.
Asked if he had been isolated in AAP, as no leader had yet come to his defence, Arora smiled and said he was capable of defending himself.
