NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha member Swati Maliwal on Wednesday accused former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal of presiding over a decade of corruption in the national capital, alleging irregularities in projects including classroom construction and the liquor policy.“In last 10 years in Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal was running a shop of corruption, be it construction of classrooms, liquor scam, they did many of such scams,” BJP leader Maliwal said.Maliwal alleged that Kejriwal deliberately kept himself away from ministerial portfolios and allowed corruption to be carried out through ministers, whom he later blamed when allegations surfaced.“Arvind Kejriwal functioned cleverly, he did not handle any of the ministry, he would get the corruption done through the minister, and then when the minister used to be exposed, he would blame the minister,” Maliwal added.She also alleged that Aam Aadmi Party leader Satyendar Jain was acting as a “collection agent” for the party in Punjab.“Now the STP scam of the DJB that came to the fore, it is a very serious scam, because the STPs are important aspect of Yamuna cleaning. Satyendar Jain is acting as a collection agent for AAP in Punjab,” Maliwal said.AAP leader and former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain was arrested in connection with alleged corruption in the Delhi Jal Board, an official told news agency ANI.The Delhi government’s Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) has arrested six people in the case, including former Delhi Jal Board CEO Udit Prakash Rai, former contractual consultant Ankit Srivastava and three private individuals — Nagendra Yadav, Raja Kumar Kurra and Pankaj Verma.The arrests were made in connection with an FIR registered by the ACB on May 11, 2024, under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code. The case includes charges related to bribery, criminal breach of trust, cheating and criminal conspiracy.The FIR was registered on a complaint by the Directorate of Vigilance, GNCTD, alleging large-scale irregularities, manipulation of tender conditions and criminal conspiracy in the tendering process for the augmentation and upgradation of sewage treatment plants (STPs) of the Delhi Jal Board.AAP chief and former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal attacked the BJP over Jain’s arrest, saying his party colleague was arrested on the “BJP’s behest”.‘Part of witch-hunt’, says AAP leader AtishiAam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi on Wednesday also alleged that the arrest of former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain was part of a BJP conspiracy and “witch-hunt”.“The arrest of Aam Aadmi Party leader Satyendar Jain is part of a BJP conspiracy and ‘witch-hunt’. On one hand, there is the BJP, which is perpetrating one scam after another in Delhi, yet no action is being taken against them,” Atishi said.
Share your thoughts in the comments
Be respectful · TOI community guidelines
She alleged that Jain’s arrest was similar to his detention in 2022-23, claiming that he was implicated in a fabricated case and kept in jail for two years before it was revealed that there was no evidence against him and his arrest was wrongful“At that time, he was the party’s in-charge for Himachal Pradesh, and the move was aimed at disrupting the elections there. Now, as the co-in-charge for Punjab—where elections are scheduled for February—he is once again being targeted as part of a BJP conspiracy... The people of Punjab will certainly give a befitting reply to these attempts to harass the Aam Aadmi Party in the state,” she said.
