Aam Aadmi Party national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said even their opponents consider AAP a party of “hardcore honest” people who will sacrifice their lives but won’t betray the nation.

He was addressing during a roadshow at Binaganj town in the Guna district of Madhya Pradesh, which goes to polls in a single phase on November 17.

“Today our opponents also consider AAP a party of hardcore honest members. It is a party of patriots. We will sacrifice our lives but will never betray our nation,” Mr Kejriwal said.

The Delhi Chief Minister talked about his party’s “honesty” at a time when the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summoned him in an excise policy-linked case in which AAP leaders, including Delhi’s former school education minister Manish Sisodia and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, have been arrested.

AAP has fielded former BJP MLA Mamta Meena from Chanchoda constituency in the district from where Congress Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh’s younger brother, Laxman Singh, is the sitting MLA. Priyanka Meena is the BJP candidate from this constituency.

Mr Kejriwal said Congress and BJP mainly ruled the country for 75 years but leaders of both parties just filled their own houses and did nothing for the people.

He highlighted the work done by his party in Delhi and Punjab in education, health and power sectors and said those can be done in Madhya Pradesh as well.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann also addressed during the roadshow. He said that the large turnout at the rally indicated a “revolution” in the state.

Sloganeering and clapping by people in support of AAP express their frustration against the prevailing governance system, he said.

Mr Mann said that British rulers looted the country for 200 years but “our own parties are looting the country every five years taking turns”.

A moving sleeper bus caught fire on the Delhi-Gurugram Expressway on Wednesday night, resulting in the death of two and injuring over a dozen, said police. 

Video footage from the scene showed the bus engulfed in flames, with plumes of smoke rising into the night sky. The cause of the fire was not known immediately.

The incident took place around 8:30 pm near the Jharsa flyover on the main carriageway from Delhi to Jaipur, said Fire Department Deputy Director Gulshan Kalra.

“Three fire engines were rushed to the spot after we received information that a sleeper bus with registration number AR 01 K 7707 had caught fire on the carriageway,” the officer told news agency PTI.

Gurugram’s Civil Hospital’s Dr Manav confirmed seven injured are undergoing treatment at the facility.

“All injured have suffered 30 to 50 per cent burns but are stable,” he said.

The Jammu and Kashmir Police’s Special Investigation Agency (SIA) on Wednesday raided multiple locations in the union territory and Delhi in connection with a terror funding case, the agency said.

“Continuing with its endeavour to dismantle terror support systems in J&K, the SIA Kashmir conducted searches at houses and offices at 22 locations in J&K and Delhi,” the investigating agency said.

These locations include 18 in Srinagar, one each in Anantnag and Pulwama, and two in Delhi.

“The pre-dawn searches were carried out simultaneously by special teams of the SIA. During the search operation, incriminating material in the shape of bank documents, cash books, credit cards, debit cards, cheque books, invoices, mobile phones, SIM cards and passports etc., was seized, which will be analysed for further investigation,” the SIA said.

The case pertains to illegal raising, layering and laundering of proceeds of crime by the accused persons. These proceeds of crime might subsequently have been used in unlawful activities, including secessionism and terrorism, according to the agency.

The case was registered at SIA Kashmir police station on the basis of an inquiry.

During the inquiry, it was found that funds to the tune of Rs 85 crore were raised and laundered in less than two years, the SIA said.

The transactions were mostly cash-based to evade detection by law enforcement agencies. Based on the findings of the inquiry, case FIR No 08 of 2023 was registered under relevant sections of law, it said.

The raids were conducted on the strength of a search warrant issued by a special designated NIA court to collect evidence relevant to the ongoing investigation in the case, it said.

The SIA said it is committed to dismantling the terror ecosystem in Jammu and Kashmir by choking terror financing channels, be it hawala, human cash couriers or banking channels.