Ex-aides say Kejriwal creating a ‘drama’, reject vendetta slur

Questioning Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s reactions to the CBI raid, senior lawyer and former Aam Aadmi Party founding member Prashant Bhushan said the action did not automatically qualify as vendetta.

Questioning Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s reactions to the CBI raid, senior lawyer and former Aam Aadmi Party founding member Prashant Bhushan said the action did not automatically qualify as vendetta.

Swaraj Abhiyaan leader, senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan. (Arun Sharma/HT Photo)

“Kejriwal screaming vendetta merely because his ‘trusted man’ is raided by CBI without informing him is absurd. Should an accused be warned of a raid?” Bhushan tweeted.

“The case against Kejriwal’s ‘trusted’ Principal Secretary is substantial. Can’t scream vendetta merely because an opportunist politico or his man is raided (sic),” he said.

Yogendra Yadav, also a former founding member of the party, called Tuesday’s happenings “a drama”.

“Both allegations correct: BJP govt guilty of vendetta. AAP govt guilty of drama. Can they PLEASE spare the people and focus on governance!” (sic) Yadav tweeted.

Both Bhushan and Yadav were expelled from the party in April for alleged anti-party activities. They later formed a collective called Swaraj Abhiyan.

The collective, on Tuesday, alleged that their volunteer had raised questions about Rajendra Kumar’s alleged dodgy dealings.

The Abhiyan, as part of an official statement, reproduced an email that was allegedly sent to Arvind Kejriwal by the said volunteer.

In the letter, the volunteer, Om Prakash, wrote that Kumar was involved in a scam wherein he formed an IT company which was given all contracts for computerization in the education department. The letter warned Kejriwal about making a corrupt officer part of his team.

According to the statement by Swaraj Abhiyan, Om Prakash was then called by Kejriwal and was “disdainfully scolded” for writing to him.

Aam Aadmi Party has maintained that the complaint against Kumar was being looked into by competent authorities and that they would wait for the investigations to close. On Tuesday, government officials maintained that the raid was directed at Kejriwal and not Kumar.

“Files related to the DDCA probe were in Chief Minister’s Office and this was the precise reason that the CBI, under Modi government, raided the CMO on pretext of investigating a case related to the dealings of chief minister’s principal secretary Rajendra Kumar between 2007 and 2014, much before Arvind Kejriwal took over as CM,” said a statement issued by AAP.