Close X
Sunday, November 24, 2024
ADVT 
India

AAP, Congress Ask Arun Jaitley To Quit, CBI Rebuts Arvind Kejriwal

Darpan News Desk IANS, 16 Dec, 2015 12:28 PM
    The AAP and the Congress on Wednesday separately asked Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to resign over alleged wrongdoing in the Delhi cricket association which he once headed, even as the CBI denied again that it conducted searches at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's office.
     
    Jaitley, former chairman of the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA), rubbished the charges against him. 
     
    "What is the specific allegation? I can't answer vague allegations without any basis," Jaitley told the media.
     
    Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party reiterated that the CBI did raid Kejriwal's office on Tuesday while targeting his Principal Secretary Rajendra Kumar as it was looking for files related to the DDCA.
     
    Kejriwal tweeted that documents had indeed been seized from his office that were not linked to Rajendra Kumar. 
     
    He said CBI officials kept reading the DDCA file in his office. "They would have seized it. But after my media briefing, they left it. Not clear if they took a copy."
     
    Kejriwal added: "Finance minister lied in parliament... Why is Jaitleyji so scared of DDCA probe? What is his role in DDCA scam?"
     
    The CBI spokesperson countered that Kejriwal's office was neither searched nor sealed, and whatever was taken away was related to corruption allegations against Rajendra Kumar.
     
     
    "This information is being spread by certain quarters since yesterday to discredit the agency with intent to obstruct the investigation," the spokesperson said.
     
    Deputy Chief Minister and Kejriwal confidant Manish Sisodia demanded to know why the CBI seized the records of file movements of November-December this year if the agency was probing Rajendra Kumar's doings from 2007 to 2014.
     
    "I want to categorically say that it was CM's office where the raid was conducted, DDCA files were looked into," Sisodia said.
     
    The alleged search of Kejriwal's office rocked parliament for a second day, with Trinamool Congress members taking the lead. 
     
    Trinamool's Sudip Bandhopadhyay said the CBI should be renamed "GBI" -- Gujarat Bureau of Investigation.
     
    As AAP's most vocal Lok Sabha member, Bhagwant Mann raised slogans near Speaker Sumitra Mahajan's podium, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stood up and offered him a glass of water.
     
    Ignoring the CBI denials, AAP leader Sanjay Singh insisted that the CBI did search Kejriwal's office and said Jaitley was involved in the what he claimed were huge financial bunglings in the DDCA.
     
    He said the AAP would make public the documents related to DDCA on Thursday.
     
    The Congress demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the alleged financial irregularities during Jaitley's tenure as the DDCA chief.
     
    Calling the Delhi government's threat to probe the charges as empty rhetoric, it said Jaitley should resign from the government until the JPC finished its probe.
     
    The Congress listed numerous alleged wrongdoings which it said took place during Jaitley's tenure as DDCA chief from 1999 to 2013. 
     
    Meanwhile, social activist Anna Hazare questioned the CBI's raid but said Kejriwal should have checked officer Rajendra Kumar's background before appointing him as his principal secretary.
     
    "From the beginning Arvind has been fighting corruption. I have always told him that 'you should have people with strong character around you'."

    MORE India ARTICLES

    Indian Billionaire Shivinder Singh Quits Fortis To Do 'Seva' At Radha Soami Satsang Beas

    Indian Billionaire Shivinder Singh Quits Fortis To Do 'Seva' At Radha Soami Satsang Beas
    I am fortunate to have been accepted. I will move to Dera, Beas post transitioning my executive responsibilities at Fortis

    Indian Billionaire Shivinder Singh Quits Fortis To Do 'Seva' At Radha Soami Satsang Beas

    The Tragedy Of Farmers In Once Prosperous Punjab

    The Tragedy Of Farmers In Once Prosperous Punjab
    For too long, Punjab has been high on political slogans, false and un-kept promises, often outpacing reality. Once a 'prosperous' state, Punjab today is a 'problem' state

    The Tragedy Of Farmers In Once Prosperous Punjab

    'Salman Khan', 'Shah Rukh Khan' On Sale In Goat Markets

    'Salman Khan', 'Shah Rukh Khan' On Sale In Goat Markets
    The simmering rivalry between the two Khans has found its echo in the markets of the state capital where many sacrificial goats named after celebrities can be found.

    'Salman Khan', 'Shah Rukh Khan' On Sale In Goat Markets

    Flipkart Co-Founders Sachin And Binny Bansal New Billionaires: Forbes India

    Flipkart Co-Founders Sachin And Binny Bansal New Billionaires: Forbes India
    "Indian e-commerce has added its first billionaires with Flipkart's founders (Bansals) making debut on our rich list at number 86, with $1.3 billion net worth each

    Flipkart Co-Founders Sachin And Binny Bansal New Billionaires: Forbes India

    Delhi Government To Buy 4 Lakh Condoms For Sex Workers

    Delhi Government To Buy 4 Lakh Condoms For Sex Workers
    The Delhi government will procure four lakh condoms to allay the scarcity in the city red-light area G.B. Road till the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) resumes supply.

    Delhi Government To Buy 4 Lakh Condoms For Sex Workers

    Rahul Gandhi To Attend Conference In US

    Rahul Gandhi To Attend Conference In US
    Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi will be attending a conference in the US where global leaders from various domains will also be present, the party said on Tuesday.

    Rahul Gandhi To Attend Conference In US