Senior AAP ministers Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain quit; two newcomers to be inducted

NEW DELHI: Two days after his arrest in an alleged excise policy scam, Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia on Tuesday resigned from the council of ministers. Former health minister Satyendar Jain, who was arrested in May last year in an alleged money laundering case, also submitted his resignation to CM Arvind Kejriwal, bringing the strength of the Delhi cabinet to five.

Delhi government officials said Kejriwal accepted both the resignations and sent them to lieutenant governor V K Saxena to be forwarded to the President. The AAP said two new faces would soon be inducted into the cabinet but didn't give any timeframe. For the interim, their portfolios have been distributed between Kailash Gahlot and Raaj Kumar Anand.
"The size of the Delhi cabinet is quite small and the two senior ministers held the majority of important portfolios. To ensure that the work is not impeded in their absence and the citizens of Delhi are not inconvenienced, Jain and Sisodia tendered their resignations. Two new ministers will soon be inducted in the council of ministers," AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said at a press conference.
Sisodia's and Jain's resignations came soon after the Supreme Court refused to grant relief to the former and asked him to approach the Delhi high court. In a three-page letter to the chief minister, Sisodia said the allegations against him were nothing but a "conspiracy of cowards and weak people" and he wished to stay away till the "charges are proven wrong".
Jain was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on May 30 last year and lodged in Tihar Jail since then. Sisodia was called for investigation into alleged corruption in the the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 for the second time on February 26 and was arrested.

AAP is trying to hide him behind education: BJP
The BJP on Monday lashed out at AAP for its protests against the arrest of deputy chief minister Sisodia and asserted that CBI had been acting lawfully against the "corrupt". The party also demanded chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's resignation with two of his ministers having been arrested on corruption charges.
"The law is taking its own course and probe agencies are working lawfully," BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said. The "kattar beimaan party" (hardcore dishonest party) respects neither court nor people, he claimed, accusing Kejriwal of orchestrating the protests.

Delhi BJP also claimed that AAP functionaries were trying to hide Sisodia behind "education" when he had been arrested allegedly for corruption in relation to the now-withdrawn excise policy with "glaring evidence". It demanded his resignation from the cabinet. Former Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari said, "AAP was trying unsuccessfully to divert the liquor issue by linking it with education. One who indulges in corruption does not protest, but proves his innocence in court." Calling AAP "Arajak Apradh Party" (anarchic, criminal party), Bhatia said, "If AAP believes that CBI's action is driven by political malice, it should have gone to court... as the probe has been going on for months."
The leader of opposition in the assembly, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, said Kejriwal should immediately drop his two ministers, Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, from the cabinet. "The cabinet should be reshuffled immediately in the interest of Delhi," he said. Jain has been in custody since his arrest by Enforcement Directorate last May in a money laundering case. "All his portfolios were handed over to Sisodia and now he is also in CBI custody. Kejriwal is a chief minister who has not kept any portfolio with himself," Bidhuri said. "It is not right to leave the whole of Delhi to the remaining four ministers. A party that has 62 MLAs out of 70 is not even able to give a full government to Delhi."

Taking a swipe at Kejriwal's claim that a few CBI officers were against Sisodia's arrest, BJP's IT department head, Amit Malviya, tweeted, "It seems CBI officers... want to arrest you."
West Delhi MP Parvesh Sahib Singh claimed, "CBI getting five days' remand clearly shows that corruption has become very big. The real mastermind is Kejriwal." Delhi BJP Spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor demanded that either Kejriwal should improve the image of his government or resign.
Watch Delhi excise scam: Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain quit as ministers; CM Arvind Kejriwal accepts their resignations