Chandigarh: Punjab Aam Aadmi Party president Aman Arora on Friday accused the BJP-led Centre of running a politically motivated campaign to malign him “through fabricated narratives, selective leaks and misuse of central agencies”.Arora said he would “immediately quit politics” if anyone proved that he ever demanded even Re 1 from anyone.The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has named Arora in a money laundering case related to illegal Change of Land Use approvals.Addressing a press conference, Arora rejected all allegations against him and termed the entire episode a reflection of the BJP’s “politics of intimidation, arm-twisting and character assassination” aimed at targeting political opponents ahead of the elections.He recalled that on Thursday, a colleague informed him that raids were also conducted at the residence of his close friend Gaurav Dhir. “From morning till evening, a false narrative was systematically built and gradually twisted to drag my name into the controversy merely because of my friendship with Gaurav Dhir, despite having no connection whatsoever with the alleged case,” Arora added.Exposing a “deliberate conspiracy”, Arora pointed out that the ED initially issued an official statement in which neither his name nor Gaurav Dhir’s name appeared. He claimed that only the name “Gaurav Constructions” was mentioned in the original statement.“Within half an hour, another statement carrying the same content was issued, with the only difference being the addition of my name in the last paragraph. This clearly proves that my name was inserted later only to politically target and defame me,” Arora alleged while demanding a thorough investigation into how and why this “manipulation” took place.Speaking about Gaurav Dhir, Arora said their friendship goes back to over 22 years and was based purely on personal trust and affection. “Gaurav Dhir has been more than a brother to me for the last 22-23 years. Friendship is not a crime. But where is the proof that either he or I have done anything wrong?” he asked.Launching a direct attack on the BJP, Arora said the party had made misuse of agencies like the ED and the CBI a standard political strategy in states where elections were approaching. “The BJP is trying to break people through pressure tactics, fear and false propaganda because it cannot defeat opponents politically,” he said.The AAP leader further accused the ED of adopting a selective and biased approach by deliberately omitting politically inconvenient details from its statements. He pointed out that one of the individuals named in the case donated Rs 2.5 lakh to the BJP during 2023-24, but this fact was conveniently left out.“The ED knows Aman Arora and Gaurav Dhir are friends, but it does not mention that one of the accused financially contributed to the BJP. This exposes the real political agenda behind the entire exercise,” said Arora.On his association with Gaurav Dhir, Arora said that while they shared a strong personal relationship, he never had any business dealings with him. “Our friendship existed yesterday, exists today and will remain forever. But friendship does not mean involvement in business,” he said.Arora, the minister for local govt and development, further said the raid on Gaurav Dhir appeared to have been conducted solely because of his proximity to him. “Everything points towards the fact that Gaurav Dhir was targeted because of his closeness to me,” he said.Addressing allegations linked to the Altus project, Arora claimed that the company’s 600-acre mega project received Change of Land Use (CLU) approvals back in 2013-14. He clarified that all CLU licences were conditional and remain valid as long as developers comply with govt policy norms. “For eight months I handled this department, and as per my understanding, every CLU is conditional and gets renewed as long as the developer follows policy norms and commits no wrongdoing,” he said.He further said the issue involving six acres allegedly linked to Gaurav Dhir was being deliberately distorted for political reasons. According to available information, Altus was once among the biggest defaulters of GMADA (Greater Mohali Area Development Authority) and the Punjab government. Today, however, it possesses a ‘No Dues Certificate’ from the govt and does not owe even a single rupee, Arora added.‘ED Can Examine My Phone’ (BOX)Throwing an open challenge to the ED, Aman Arora on Friday said he was ready to cooperate fully with any inquiry. “If the ED has any doubt, call me. I will come myself. Conduct a forensic examination of my phone. If the contact numbers of any of the individuals named in their list are even found saved in my phone, I will consider myself guilty,” he said.MSID:: 130960407 413 |
