Launching a new tirade against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal alleged on Friday that it was Central government’s plan to file an FIR against his deputy Manish Sisodia and summon transport minister Gopal Rai. “Now that Modi is back in India, I have come to know there is a plan to register an FIR against Sisodia and to summon our transport minister Gopal Rai,” Mr Kejriwal said at the end of the Delhi Assembly’s two-day special session, convened to discuss issues related to the BJP-controlled civic bodies.
The AAP chief said that he and his colleagues will not be cowed by the anti-corruption branch and the threats of arrest. “We are made of steel. We are not afraid of jail,” he said, triggering prolonged thumping of desks by AAP legislators.
Continuing his jibes, Mr Kejriwal wondered with what face the Prime Minister conducts his foreign visits to places that are spotlessly clean when the national capital is turning into a “huge garbage dump.” Blaming the BJP for the garbage mess in the city, Mr Kejriwal said foul smell emanates from many parts of Delhi. “The MCDs are not under our control. Had they been, Delhi would have been a different place,” he said.
Mr Kejriwal alleged that rampant corruption plaguing the functioning of the civic bodies is the prime reason for Union finance minister Arun Jaitley’s hesitation over handing out a Rs 1,000-crore bailout to pay salaries of civic employees. “The municipal corporations have become a black hole,” he said.
Playing the dalit card, Mr Kejriwal accused the BJP of being “anti-minorities” and “anti-dalit” as the BJP councillors resorted to beating up his party’s dalit councillor at Ramlila Maidan. “It had nothing to do with an AAP cap he was wearing. He was beaten up because these BJP corporators cannot tolerate a dalit corporator in their midst.”
The CM lashed out at the BJP after the House witnessed unruly scenes as the Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta dramatically perched over the top of his desk after being denied by Speaker Ram Niwas Goel to move a motion on the water tanker scam. He pointed out that the issue could not be investigated by his government as the Centre had taken over the ACB.
