BJP defends Jaitley, condemns allegations.
By Sreejith Vallikunnu
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has alleged massive corruption at the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA), when it was helmed by now finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
AAP held a press conference on Thursday in the wake of the CBI raid at the Delhi Secretariat on Wednesday, targeting Jaitley. They alleged that funds from the DDCA were siphoned off to people and companies favored by Jaitley, during his tenure.
Jaitley was the president of the DDCA for 13 years, till December 2013.
According to The Times of India, Jaitley has been accused of creating shell companies to divert DDCA funds illegally and clearing loans to companies favored by him.
AAP alleged fake bills were paid for without mandatory documents. The Arvind Kejriwal-led party also alleged that the cost of construction of the DDCA stadium went beyond its approved budget and no explanation was given.
The party demanded to know Jaitley’s relation with one Narendra Batra, who has been with the DDCA for a long time.
According to AAP, DDCA didn’t share files with investigators and auditors for probing alleged irregularities.
The Aam Aadmi Party has also alleged that the DDCA didn’t allow common people of the city for using its facilities and reserved them only for politicians and Delhi’s elites.
“BJP asked Manmohan Singh to resign over collective responsibility. We demand that Modi remove his corrupt minister,” said AAP leader Kumar Vishwas at the press conference.
“This scam was about siphoning off money by creating fake companies between 1999 and 2013 and one year after that. This went on for 15 years. When we tried to raise this with the Anti-Corruption Branch, it was taken away from us. The Chief Minister’s office was raided. His daily diary was taken up,” he added.
Kejriwal has even termed the prime minister Narendra Modi as a ‘coward’ and a ‘psychopath’ after the CBI raided his office allegedly in connection with a corruption case involving principal secretary Rajendra Kumar, on Wednesday.
The Central Bureau of Investigation said that they raided the secretariat and 13 other locations in connection with a corruption case involving Kejriwal’s principal secretary Kumar.
The Indian Express reported BJP fielded union minister Smriti Irani to mount a counter attack in which she described the charges as a “blasphemous and preposterous campaign bordering on political hysteria†being created to deflect the public attention from a “corrupt officer†working with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
She also quoted from Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) probe into DDCA affairs done during the UPA tenure to claim that it had given Jaitley a clean chit.
“It is observed during the period under inspection that Arun Jaitley is the DDCA president presiding over (its) meetings like a non-executive chairman without involvement in the day to day affair of the company. No incidents of fraud has been noticed during the course of investigation,†she said quoting from the report.
“Today, BJP resolutely stands behind Arun Jaitley and publicly condemns the malicious intent of the Aam Aadmi Party to deflect public attention from a corrupt officer working with Arvind Kejriwal,†she told a press conference.