AAP Ministers Sisodia, Jain resign, Kejriwal holds meet with AAP MLAs, councillors

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal chaired a high-level meeting with Aam Aadmi Party MLAs and councillors amid a politcal crisis, triggered by the arrest and subsequent resignations of Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and the earlier arrest of Satyendar Jain, who are in jail over allegations of corruption.

Mr Sisodia was arrested on Sunday after intense questioning by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with alleged regularities in the implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy.

Mr Sidodia was sent to the CBI’s custody till March 4.

In his resignation letter, Mr Sisodia wrote ‘It is very sad that despite working with honesty and integrity for eight years, allegations of corruption are being leveled against me. I know, my God knows that all these allegations are lies. These allegations are in fact nothing more than a conspiracy hatched by cowardly and weak people who are scared of Arvind Kejriwal’s politics of truth. I am not their target, you are. Because today not only Delhi, the people of the whole country view you as a leader who has a vision for the country and by implementing that vision, also has the ability to bring big changes in the lives of the people. Today Arvind Kejriwal has become a name of hope in the eyes of crores of people across the country facing problems like economic crisis, poverty, unemployment, inflation and corruption. People do not view your words as mere statements made by other leaders, but see them with the belief that Kejriwal does what he says.’

Mr Sisodia was holding 18 portfolios including those earlier held by Satyendar Jain, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case in May last year.

Earlier in the day, Kejriwal recommended the inclusion of Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj in his council of ministers, a Delhi government official said.

The Chief Minister distributed over a dozen portfolios including home, finance, education, power and planning that Sisodia had held among ministers Raaj Kumar Anand and Kailash Gahlot, in Mr Sisodia’s absence.