Days after the Enforcement Directorate arrested Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain over alleged money laundering, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said at a press conference on Thursday that central agencies are likely to arrest deputy CM Manish Sisodia in a few days, citing intelligence reports he received from his sources.
Kejriwal, on January 23, in a similar press conference announced “on the basis of sources” that “the ED will arrest Satyendar Jain in the coming days” ahead of the Punjab assembly elections in February. Incidentally, Jain was arrested by the ED on May 30 after he was summoned by the central agency. The Delhi CM, also the national convener of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), said Jain has been arrested in a fake case.
“I have come to know from the same sources that in the next few days the central government is going to arrest Manish Sisodia. The Centre has asked all central agencies to prepare a fake case against Sisodia and arrest him,” Kejriwal said on Thursday.
He challenged the central government to put all AAP leaders, including himself, in jail together instead of picking them out one at a time. “I would request the PM to put us all together in jail rather than picking us one by one, and use all central agencies to probe us. Ask all your agencies to take out investigations against all of us at once. Get done with it once and for all,” Kejriwal said.
Later in a separate press conference, AAP MLA Atishi alleged that the central government has asked the CBI, ED, and ACB to trap Sisodia in a fake case and arrest him.
{{/usCountry}}Later in a separate press conference, AAP MLA Atishi alleged that the central government has asked the CBI, ED, and ACB to trap Sisodia in a fake case and arrest him.
{{/usCountry}}BJP leader and Union minister Smriti Irani dubbed Kejriwal’s claims a conspiracy theory. “Conspiracy theorist strikes back! By not answering a single pointed question, Kejriwal Ji has in a way admitted to the Hawala nexus of his Minister. It would be easier to come out ‘clean’ for once instead of peddling fake sob stories which do not have any takers anymore,” she said in a tweet on Thursday.
Kejriwal described Sisodia, also the Delhi education minister, as one of the best lawmakers in the sector in India, and credited him with major reforms under the AAP government in Delhi. “Over 18 lakh students study in Delhi government schools and he has given them a new hope. Not just the future but the present of these 18 lakh children was in misery, a state of doom before he came to stand behind them. Manish is an icon for the unmatched progress these children are bound to make in the future. He has given their parents a hope to look forward to,” Kejriwal said, asking students whether Sisodia is corrupt.
The CM alleged that the Centre is trying to derail the good work going on in the education and health sectors of Delhi, and stated that putting them behind bars will be a loss for the country.
“These people want to hinder Delhi’s progress in education and health care by framing Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain in fake cases. I pledge to not let this system break at any cost. I will not let Delhi’s progress falter. None of us know how to play politics. It is beyond me to understand the politics behind jailing people like Manish and Satyendar. All I know is that putting them behind bars is a tragic loss for the country. If people who revolutionise governance and make life easier for the public can be judged corrupt then the parameters of honesty must be in a different paradigm altogether,” Kejriwal said.
Kejriwal stressed that the case in which Jain was arrested does not have merit. “The case in which Satyendar Jain has been arrested was already investigated by the CBI. They did not find anything against him because it is fabricated. Now the ED has entered the same ring. What will anyone gain out of the agencies investigating the same case again and again?” Kejriwal said.
The Delhi BJP dismissed Kejriwal’s claims as baseless and pure lies. Delhi BJP’s Adesh Gupta said in a briefing that the prophecy of the chief minister was designed to divert the attention of the public from a severe water crisis, dirty water being supplied to people through pipelines, power cuts, extreme pollution in the Yamuna, and other issues which expose the failure of the Delhi government.
“The 18 lakh students of Delhi government schools are asking the minister why they are being failed in 8th and 9th classes. He is trying to gather public sympathy by speaking lies. He is projecting Jain like a messiah who has been arrested. Did Jain not sign on the papers of ₹16.39 crore property deals?” Gupta said.
Gupta said the BJP does not believe in targeting anyone or using central agencies. “Anyone who gets involved in wrong deeds will definitely face action and suitable punishment. No one can save such persons,” Gupta said.