‘…so that work is not affected’: AAP explains why Sisodia, Jain resigned

The ministries handled by Manish Sisodia are likely to be distributed between ministers Kailash Gahlot and Raaj Kumar Anand.

Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain resigned as ministers so as not to affect any ongoing work in the national capital, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said on Tuesday, shortly after the two jailed leaders resigned from the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government.

Delhi's former deputy CM Manish Sisodia. (ANI)

“Delhi has a small cabinet. The CM has six ministers in his cabinet and, as we all know, most of the crucial portfolios were with Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain,” said AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj in a press conference.

Also, Bharadwaj once again accused the BJP-led central government of hatching a ‘conspiracy’ to get the two senior AAP leaders arrested, and stressed that each member of the Aam Aadmi Party is standing firmly with them.

In absence of Sisodia, who was handling 18 of the total 33 ministries (including those that were with Jain), his portfolios are likely to be allocated to ministers Kailash Gahlot and Raaj Kumar Anand. Kejriwal's cabinet is now left with four ministers – Gahlot, Anand, Gopal Rai and Imran Hussain – and the chief minister has not kept any ministry with himself.

Meanwhile, the resignations of Sisodia and Jain came hours after the Supreme Court dismissed the former's bail plea; on Feb 26, he was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the alleged excise policy scam. Excise was among the departments the former deputy CM was looking after.

The latter, on the other hand, has been in jail since May last year, when he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money laundering case. Till Tuesday, however, he continued to be a minister without portfolio, and all his departments were given to Sisodia.