Weeks after writing a letter to lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena over Delhi minister Satyendar Jain allegedly extorting ₹10 crore from him, jailed conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar on Saturday made fresh accusations, saying that he paid Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal “ ₹50 crore for a nomination to the Rajya Sabha”, prompting a retort from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief.
In a note released to news organisations, Chandrashekhar alleged that Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal asked him to collect ₹500 crore for the party and that Jain threatened him.
Kejriwal hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for its “dirty tactics” ahead of civic polls in the national capital and assembly elections in Gujarat, rubbishing Chandrashekhar’s claims as “fictional tales”.
“A magazine called Manohar Kahiyan used to come out earlier. Now, there will be a new magazine called BJP’s Manohar Kahaniyan,” he said, referring to a monthly Hindi fiction magazine. He said that the saffron party was concocting the conman’s claims to deflect attention from the bridge collapse in Gujarat’s Morbi that killed 135.
Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta, meanwhile, said the allegations made by Chandrashekhar were serious and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) should initiate probes in the matter. “He said that ₹50 crore was delivered by him to transport minister Kailash Gahlot’s farmhouse. This is corruption of the highest order. The way in which Kejriwal was selling one Rajya Sabha seat at the rate of ₹50 crore to a criminal conman, it is a matter of probe and an attempt to sell the democratic system.”
In a letter to the Lieutenant Governor recently, Chandrashekhar alleged that Jain “extorted ₹10 crore” in 2019 for his “safety” in the prison. He has now alleged that Jain, along with the former Tihar director general, threatened him after his letter to the LG became public.
{{/usCountry}}In a letter to the Lieutenant Governor recently, Chandrashekhar alleged that Jain “extorted ₹10 crore” in 2019 for his “safety” in the prison. He has now alleged that Jain, along with the former Tihar director general, threatened him after his letter to the LG became public.
{{/usCountry}}He said that he has submitted another complaint to the LG on Thursday, detailing the allegations of corruption against Kejriwal, Jain and Gahlot.
GAHLOT RESPONSE
Chandrashekhar alleged that Kejriwal forced him to bring “over 20 people to contribute ₹500 crore towards his party”.
“If you think I am the biggest ‘thug’, why did you accept ₹50 crore from me,” he asked Kejriwal.
The letter to the LG earlier alleged that he gave more than ₹50 crore to the AAP, which promised to give Chandrashekhar an important post in the party in South Zone and also help him get nominated to Rajya Sabha.
AAP leader and Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia alleged that the BJP had struck a deal with the “conman sitting in Tihar”. He will level absurd allegations against Kejriwal every day and in return, the BJP will help him in the case, he tweeted.
Hitting out at the AAP, Gupta said the whole Delhi government was steeped in corruption. “These are some of the most dishonest people in the country to pretend to be honest. I appeal that CM Kejriwal and transport minister Gahlot resign and CBI-ED should probe where this amount of ₹50 crore was ultimately utilised,” he added.
In the press release dated November 4, Chandrashekhar alleged that Kejriwal asked him “to bring 20-30 people” on board to contribute ₹500 crore to the party in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in 2016; that he spoke Kejriwal on Jain’s phone when the latter visited him in prison in 2017; and that he was in touch with AAP leaders to expand the party’s base in south India.
The conman also claimed that Kejriwal and Jain were using the jail administration to “threaten and intimidate” him and added that he will seek a “detailed CBI [Central Bureau of Investigation] probe” in the matter. He also said he will “pursue a defamation suit” against Kejriwal next week after the chief minister reportedly called him the “country’s biggest thug”.
Chandrashekhar has been in Tihar since 2017 except for a brief period in early 2021 when he was released on parole. He is currently being investigated by multiple agencies including the Delhi Police, CBI and ED for cheating, laundering money, extorting money from high-profile people including ₹200 crore from Aditi Singh, wife of former Ranbaxy promoter Shivinder Mohan Singh, in 2020, and impersonating a high-ranking official in the ministry of home affairs (MHA).
AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said the BJP has resorted to using a thug for their political mileage. “Chandrashekhar has become the BJP’s star campaigner but who is he? He was found extorting money from the wife of Ranbaxy chief Shivender Singh. She paid him ₹215 crore…”
BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla called Sukesh’s letter a “candid confession”.
“The AAP can even con a conman. The AAP should say if it received ₹10 crore as protection money. Has AAP received ₹50 crore from Sukesh for a Rajya Sabha seat? Did Kejriwal visit his [Sukesh’s] party and what was discussed there?,” Poonawalla said.