New Delhi: Reacting to Anna Hazre's comment on Arvind Kejriwal's arrest, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Dilip Pandey said that the octogenarian activist never raised his voice against the ruling party. "It's very unfortunate, he is respected by all of us but it's sad and we are also pained sometimes when people like Himanta Biswa Sarma against whom the BJP has campaigned in the past get into the BJP and become the CM, no one raise the voice. When people like Ajit Pawar get along with the BJP, this very respected person (Anna Hazare) says nothing. This behaviour is painful and sad..." Pandey told ANI.  

Earlier in the day, talking to reporters, Hazare, who had a decade ago become the face of the anti-corruption movement, said he had warned Arvind Kejriwal, arrested in the excise policy case, to stay away from making such a policy. Hazare, who spearheaded the Lokpal movement in the early 2010s along with Kejriwal, said the Delhi CM was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate because of his own deeds.

“I had told him that our job is not to make excise policy. Even a small child knows that liquor is bad. I had asked him to stay away from this (excise policy) issue. But he went ahead and made the policy,” Hazare said, speaking to PTI at his village Ralegan Siddhi in Maharashtra.

“He thought that he will earn more money and that is why he made this policy. I felt sad and wrote to him twice. I felt sad that a person like Kejriwal, who once worked with me and raised our voice against alcohol, is now making the excise policy.

“He got arrested due to his deeds. Had he not done anything, there was no question of his being arrested. Now law will take its course and the government will do the needful,” Hazare said. 

Kejriwal spent the night at the ED office in central Delhi after his arrest in connection with the excise policy-linked money laundering case on Thursday night.