New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has said that had he had control of central agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) for a day, “half of Bharatiya Janata Party” would be in jail.
Appearing at a discussion for NDTV, Kejriwal said that BJP had been filing false cases against members of AAP.
“They filed so many cases against us, was even one proved?” he asked.
“They said Manish Sisodia is part of the liquor scam, that he took Rs 10,000 crore…where did the Rs 10,000 crore go, then? They raided Manish Sisodia’s place, tore down walls and looked inside…they perhaps thought it would be like an Ajay Devgn film where money came from the walls…they didn’t find anything…they looked at the bank lockers, where did the money go then?” Kejriwal said.
The CBI raided the residence of Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in August this year, a few days after he was listed in an FIR along with 14 others over allegations of corruption in Delhi’s liquor policy. Kejriwal had then said the raid at his junior colleague’s house was the result of the AAP government’s good performance – which was appreciated globally.
He alleged that 800 ED and CBI officers were deployed, not to probe the liquor excise policy scam but to “catch Manish Sisodia by any means.”
Kejriwal called this “negative politics.”
He said it has been seven years since AAP won power in Delhi and “at least one of these cases would have been proven” had they been legitimate.
“Despite 167 cases filed against AAP MLAs, our MLAs have been out in 135 of them. The others are pending. At least prove one case…everyday they are scolded by the courts, they get horrible orders saying there is no evidence, nothing…still, they file case after case,” he said.
Kejriwal also sought to debunk the claim that Modi’s government was corruption-free. “Give me control of the CBI and ED for one day, half of BJP will be in jail,” he said.
Kejriwal also spoke of how the Lieutenant-General’s post of Delhi was being used to diminish the Delhi chief minister’s powers.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday, November 19, drew flak as videos purportedly showing its jailed Delhi minister Satyendar Jain receiving massage and meeting visitors in his prison cell emerged, with the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress demanding his sacking and questioning the “silence” of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.
In the talk show, Kejriwal also refused to answer questions on BJP’s claims regarding AAP minister Satyendar Jain, who was allegedly caught on CCTV receiving massages from a fellow prisoner in Tihar Jail. Jain is held by the ED in a case based on a CBI FIR lodged against him in 2017 under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Please visit our website London Institute of Peace Research for latest peace news
