Close X
Friday, November 8, 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

    No End To Standoff: Jung Cancels Postings, Kejriwal Writes To Modi

    No End To Standoff: Jung Cancels Postings, Kejriwal Writes To Modi
    The central government, however, distanced itself from the controversy, saying Kejriwal and Jung should meet to sort out their differences.

    No End To Standoff: Jung Cancels Postings, Kejriwal Writes To Modi

    Sunanda Murder Case: Tharoor's Aides To Undergo Polygraph Test

    A court here on Wednesday allowed Delhi Police to conduct lie-detector tests in the Sunanda Pushkar murder case on three suspects, closely associated with her husband and former union minister Shashi Tharoor.

    Sunanda Murder Case: Tharoor's Aides To Undergo Polygraph Test

    Is Jayalalithaa Returning As CM? AIADMK Doesn't Know

    Only AIADMK leader J. Jayalalithaa can decide if she will be Tamil Nadu's chief minister again and reports that she will be sworn in on May 23 are wrong, the party said on Wednesday.

    Is Jayalalithaa Returning As CM? AIADMK Doesn't Know

    17 Videos To Show How Dubsmash Fever Has Gripped Indians And Bollywood Stars Alike

    17 Videos To Show How Dubsmash Fever Has Gripped Indians And Bollywood Stars Alike
    Dubsmash has gone viral in India, with people grabbing the opportunity tosound like Amitabh Bachchan or Rajinikanth, adding their own interpretations, props, supporting casts and theatrics to seconds-long videos with hilarious results. 

    17 Videos To Show How Dubsmash Fever Has Gripped Indians And Bollywood Stars Alike

    #ModiInsultsIndia To #ModiIndiasPride: How Twitter Trend Changed In Hours

    #ModiInsultsIndia To #ModiIndiasPride: How Twitter Trend Changed In Hours
    #ModiInsultsIndia was among the top trends for several hours following perceived unhappiness over Modi's comments during his three-nation tour to China, Mongolia and South Korea.

    #ModiInsultsIndia To #ModiIndiasPride: How Twitter Trend Changed In Hours

    Thane Nursing College To Be Named After Aruna Shanbaug

    Thane Nursing College To Be Named After Aruna Shanbaug
    The Maharashtra government has decided to name a prominent institution in Thane after nurse Aruna Shanbaug, the world's oldest comatose patient, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced here on Tuesday.

    Thane Nursing College To Be Named After Aruna Shanbaug