Congress leader Ajay Maken has lashed out at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal accusing him of having struck a deal with the BJP to avoid going to jail in corruption charges. Maken said that Kejriwal’s decision to join the opposition parties was to break the opposition unity against the BJP.
“This is a simple matter. Arvind Kejriwal has dealings with the BJP since he doesn’t want to go to jail. Preparations are complete for him to go to jail since he has committed corruption. Two of his colleagues (Manish Sisodia, Satyender Jain0 are already in jail on corruption charges. He’s keen on getting them out as well,” Maken said in a video statement.
The former union minister added that Kejriwal attending the opposition parties’ meeting was not to strengthen our unity but to ensure how that unity could be weakened to help the BJP.
Many opposition parties had recently met in Patna to discuss a possibility of a front against the BJP ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha polls. However, Kejriwal had refused to attend the joint presser since he wanted an assurance from the Congress to help his Aam Aadmi Party against the Ordinance by the Narendra Modi government in parliament.
The Supreme Court had ruled that the elected government would have powers to transfer civil servants in Delhi, which is governed by Kejriwal. However, days later, the Modi government had issued an ordinance to overrule the Supreme Court’s decision. The ordinance will need to be ratified by both houses of the parliament. While the BJP has a majority in Lok Sabha, the party doesn’t enjoy a similar majority in Rajya Sabha.
Kejriwal has been travelling across India to garner support against the ordinance. However, the Congress has refused to extend support to him given his sick utterances targeting top Congress leaders including Sonia Gandhi in the past.
Maken said that Kejriwal had recently travelled to Rajasthan to make statements against top Congress leaders including Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.