Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party President Virendra Sachdeva on Monday, 18 May said the arrest of East Delhi Aam Aadmi Party leader Deepak Singla by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a major bank scam has exposed yet another dimension of alleged financial wrongdoing within the AAP. Sachdeva argued that the case adds to a growing pattern of economic offences linked to the party's leaders at both the Delhi and Punjab levels.

What the BJP Alleged

Sachdeva stated that while alleged 'bribery and loot' involving AAP National Convenor and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and other senior leaders have long been subjects of public debate, the arrest of Singla has brought a newer dimension to the fore — the alleged purchase of properties using black money, tax evasion, and bank loan fraud. He said Delhiites are 'shocked' by reports of bank loans worth hundreds of crores allegedly taken by Singla and the purported illegal misuse of those funds.

A Pattern of Arrests, BJP Claims

According to Sachdeva, this is not an isolated incident. He cited the cases of former Delhi Minister Satyendar Jain and Punjab Minister Sanjeev Arora as earlier instances where AAP leaders faced arrest over alleged financial misconduct. Delhi BJP Media Head Praveen Shankar Kapoor went further, claiming at a press conference that the AAP 'appears to have become a sanctuary for economic offenders.'

Kapoor alleged that fake companies and bribery-money operations reportedly linked to Jain first came to light in 2018–19, but Kejriwal dismissed those allegations as a political conspiracy at the time. Subsequent arrests of AAP leaders in separate bribery-related cases were similarly characterised by the party as politically motivated, critics argue.

GST Scam and Bank Fraud: A New Face of Alleged Corruption

The BJP leaders contended that the recent cases — involving Arora in an alleged GST scam and Singla in an alleged bank fraud — represent a qualitatively different category of wrongdoing compared to earlier bribery charges. Sachdeva said it was 'difficult to imagine' that a sitting state minister could face arrest over a GST scam while party leaders who have contested multiple elections allegedly resort to bank loan fraud.

BJP's Demand from Kejriwal

Sachdeva called on Kejriwal to expel both Sanjeev Arora and Deepak Singla from the party, noting that Kejriwal had previously extended what he described as 'full protection' to Satyendar Jain despite the latter's arrest. The BJP's demand frames the issue as a test of the AAP leadership's willingness to act against its own members facing serious legal scrutiny.

The AAP has not yet issued an official response to the BJP's latest allegations. The ED investigation into Singla's alleged bank scam is ongoing, and no court verdict has been delivered in the matter.