The NDA Government and the BJP have come down heavily on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for his outburst against Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday over CBI raids on the home and office of the CM’s Principal Secretary and also condemned him for protecting a “corrupt” officer.
Condemning his “abusive” comments against the Prime Minister, the BJP sought an apology from Kejriwal saying it has become a “fashion” with the Delhi Chief Minister to “quarrel” with the Centre and blame the PM for “everything”.
Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay said, “We will launch a Pol Khol (expose) campaign to show the people how the AAP is involved in corruption and that Secretariat has become a den of corruption.”
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that the raid had nothing to do with the CM. “The CBI action pertained to a particular official
in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) against whom a complaint had been registered before the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government came to power,” Jaitley said in the Rajya Sabha, adding the investigating agency conducted searches at 14 places on Tuesday morning.
“The CMO has not been raided. The raid has nothing to do with Arvind Kejriwal or his tenure. There is a corruption case against an officer of the Delhi Government. The raid is in relation to that officer. It is the officer (office) that has been searched,” he said.
Meanwhile, the BJP said there was no law which says the CM’s permission was needed before a CBI raid and claimed that the CM who fancies himself as an “anti-corruption crusader” did not think it fit to do “a due diligence” before appointing his Principal Secretary.
Addressing a Press conference here Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the raids were conducted not at one place but in nearly 14 places. The CM’s comments against the PM were “not only baseless but also malafide”, Prasad said and demanded an apology from Kejriwal.
He described Kejriwal’s reaction to the CBI raid as “a text book case of hypocrisy and double standards”.
Prasad said when the CBI recently arrested a Delhi Government officer Sanjay Pratap Singh, the AAP Government had “owned it up” and highlighted its anti-corruption measures but it was now condemning the CBI because the officer concerned was working with the CM.
“It is double standards and hypocrisy,” the BJP leader alleged. “The way the AAP is defending an officer facing serious charges raises questions. CBI should be allowed to work in a free and fair manner,” he said.
With many political parties attacking the Centre over the raids and terming them a violation of federal structure, he noted that the CBI had raided the Principal Secretary of then Punjab Chief Minister when HD Deve Gowda was the Prime Minister.
“Protecting corruption is not part of federal structure,” he said. On the Congress’ charge that the Government was not acting against BJP Chief Ministers, he claimed that the allegations against them lacked substance and accused the Congress of resorting to “lies” and changing issues every hour to disrupt Parliament.
lashing out at Kejriwal, Union Parliamentary Affairs Venkaiah Naidu said: “It has become a fashion with the Delhi Chief Minister to quarrel with the Central Government and that, too, to take the name of the Prime Minister for each and everything,” he said.
“Why should we handle anybodyIJ We are in a federal system and everybody has been assigned their responsibilities and they have to act in accordance with the Constitution”, he said.
“Gone are the days of the Congress Government when CBI would be misused. Today, the CBI is an independent organisation and the Government does not interfere at all. So, how can you criticise the Government of India and the PM,” he asked, adding the Government does not monitor the CBI.
Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar termed Kejriwal’s reaction as “atrocious” and accused the latter of “protecting” the corrupt and engaging in the “worst kind of politics” by targeting Modi for the same.
“Arvind Kejriwal’s reaction on the CBI raid is atrocious. CBI raids only when they receive a credible complaint and they want to investigate the corruption matter. Kejriwal is protecting corruption. And instead of immediately taking action against his officials, he is accusing the Prime Minister. This is worst kind of politics,” said Javadekar.