New Delhi: Amid Lok Sabha elections, former Punjab Chief Minister and Congress leader Charanjit Singh Channi has claimed that Arvind Kejriwal cannot be trusted as he is involved in the liquor scam. Channi demanded inquiry into the liquor scam case, asserting that a similar scam like Delhi has taken place in Punjab also. 

Channi's remarks come ahead of Kejriwal's scheduled visit to Punjab. Kejriwal is scheduled to campaign in Punjab later this week. All 13 Lok Sabha seats, including Jalandhar, in Punjab will go to the polls in a single phase on June 1. "Kejriwal, who is involved in a liquor scam and is out of jail for only 15 days, can't be trusted. A big liquor scam happened in Delhi and the same happened in Punjab as well. We demand an inquiry into it. Instead of being welcomed, he should be opposed," said Congress leader Charanjit Singh Channi, as quoted by ANI.

Congress and Aam Aadmi Party are contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as part of the INDI bloc. While AAP and Congress are in a 3:4 seat-sharing agreement in Delhi, they have mutually decided to go solo in Punjab. Charanjit Singh Channi is contesting against AAP's Pawan Kumar Tinu and SAD candidate Mohinder Singh Kaypee in Jalandhar. 

Mamata Banerjee officially out of INDI? 

This is not the first time that any leader of the INDI alliance has officially opposed Kejriwal. Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely had quit the top post citing Congress' alliance with Aam Aadmi Party as of the reasons. 

Further, on Wednesday, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee made it official that her party is not a part of the INDI alliance. Mamata Banerjee, on Wednesday, said that her party would support the INDI alliance from outside, if it forms government at the centre. TMC is contesting solo after failed seat-sharing talks with Congress. 

"BJP is claiming that it will win 400 seats, but people are saying it will not happen. The entire country has understood that the BJP is a party full of thieves. We (TMC) will support the INDI bloc from outside to form a government at the Centre. We will extend our support so that in (West) Bengal, our mothers and sisters never face a problem... and those who work in the 100 days' job scheme, also do not face problems," Banerjee said.

The TMC supremo, who was addressing an election rally at Chinsurah, Hooghly district, however, clarified that in West Bengal, her party will not support the Congress and CPI(M). Banerjee alleged that both the parties, who are part of the INDIA alliance, have joined hands and helping the BJP in the state.