Join BJP and become a minister’: AAP MLA Arora alleges poaching bid during ED raid
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An allegation of pressure tactics using the central agency, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), by the BJP has been made by AAP MLA from Moga, Dr Amandeep Kaur Arora, whose residence and family properties were raided by the ED over money laundering allegations, and who claimed to have been offered a ministerial post in return for joining the BJP, an inducement she rejected out of loyalty to her party.
Speaking to reporters after the nearly 42-hour-long searches concluded on Thursday, Arora alleged that the ED officials had asked her to consider switching political allegiance, promising her a ministerial position in the future.
“They told me to think about it, saying I would become a minister in the coming days. But we are soldiers of Kejriwal,” she said, describing the AAP as her mother party and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann as her leader.
Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP-led Centre of misusing central agencies to intimidate Opposition leaders ahead of the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections, Arora said the searches began at 5 am on Wednesday, while she was asleep with her children, The Indian Express reported.
She claimed that the investigators found neither incriminating material nor “a single penny”, and alleged that the prolonged operation had distressed her family.
The ED searched seven premises linked to Arora and her family, including her residence, camp office, a private de-addiction hospital run by her husband, Dr Rakesh Arora, and properties belonging to her maternal and paternal grandparents.
The investigation stems from a June 2024 Moga police case concerning alleged fraudulent mutations of government land acquired for National Highway 754-A and the wrongful disbursement of Rs 1.006 crore in compensation. The FIR alleged that forged land records were created to show government property in the name of a woman labourer, Dilkhush Kumari, enabling the compensation claim.
Arora denied any involvement in money laundering and said she would cooperate if summoned again. AAP media in-charge Baltej Pannu also alleged that the raids were politically motivated and intended to pressure the party's leaders into joining the BJP.