Aam Aadmi Party chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is turning the pages of the arrest of his close aide and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia for more than 20 years amid questions over his alleged involvement in the Delhi Liquor Excise Policy scam.
The CM has moved swiftly since the Supreme Court on Monday directed Sisodia to exhaust the alternative remedies available to him and said that direct intervention would set a wrong precedent.
Kejriwal accepted the resignations of Sisodia and Jain, reallocated the 18 portfolios that Sisodia held between the two current ministers Kailash Gehlot and Raj Kumar Anand, and the next day three-time MLA from Greater Kailash and party spokesperson Saurabh Filed for the appointment of Bharadwaj and Atishi, a one-time MLA from Kalkaji, as ministers in his cabinet.
In a confidence-building exercise, Kejriwal held back-to-back meetings with MLAs and councillors, asking them to prepare for battle. This weekend, March 4 and 5, Kejriwal will visit Karnataka and Chhattisgarh respectively.
new faces in the cabinet
The CM has decided to go ahead with new faces in his cabinet instead of waiting for the courts to give relief to his jailed ministers or to score political points against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Once the resignations of Jain and Sisodia are accepted by the President and new ministers are inducted, there will be a cabinet reshuffle.
Speaking in the Delhi Assembly on Wednesday, Kejriwal said, “We have changed our jailed ministers… Atishi ji and Saurabh Bhardwaj are excellent, well-educated professionals and they will carry forward the work of Jain and Sisodia at double the speed.” We will not allow any hindrance in our work.”
The message is clear – go ahead.
denied the allegations
Denying allegations of corruption, arrests and resignations of two senior ministers in his cabinet, Kejriwal said, “AAP is in deep trouble, there is no crisis.” What is Aam Aadmi Party? we are nothing. What you are doing today is necessary for the country and it is necessary that our work should spread.
Kejriwal, however, admitted that Jain and Sisodia would be missed. “Obviously, we will miss our leaders. But there are many other leaders. More and more people are joining us in Punjab, Delhi, Gujarat, crores of people are joining us.
The CM also rejected the BJP’s demand for his resignation.
heavy attack
AAP is also gearing up to fight the battle of perception by launching a door-to-door campaign in Delhi and holding street meetings in which all leaders, MLAs, councilors and volunteers are expected to participate from March 10.
Kejriwal said, “In the coming days, you will go from house to house to tell what is happening to every citizen…people will answer.”
Asked why he accepted Sisodia’s resignation when he was in custody for barely 48 hours, while he waited for Jain for nearly 10 months, Kejriwal said, “That’s what they wanted.” To stop our work. We will not let this affect our work under any circumstances.
An upset Chief Minister targeted the BJP and the Prime Minister. “A question arises – if Sisodia ji and Satyendra ji had not done good work in education and health, would Modi ji have arrested them? The answer is no, his work had to be stopped… If Manish Sisodia ji joins BJP today, will he not be released tomorrow? If Satyendar Jain joins BJP today, all the cases will end and he will come out of jail immediately.
They want to stop you. I want to tell BJP that you are ‘Aandhi Hai Aandhi’ and it will not stop. No one can stop an idea whose time has come and your time has come.
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