Accusing Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of shielding corrupt, the Congress on Tuesday released tapes of a person associated with Delhi Food and Environment Minister Imran Hussain’s office demanding money from a man for constructing a house. The accused is shown as saying that money has to be given to the Minister.
AICC spokesman and Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken said that Kejriwal has compromised on the main plank on which AAP was founded. He said that half of the Delhi Cabinet was under a cloud. In the tapes, the man purportedly extorting money is seen saying that a lot of money was spent on getting the Cabinet berth and elections were also a very costly affair.
It is noted Hussain, a MlA from Ballimaran, was given the Cabinet birth after then AAP Minister Asim Ahmed Khan was sacked by the Chief Minister for allegedly demanding `6 lakh from a builder in October last year. Announcing the sacking at a Press conference where he played a recorded tape of a conversation purportedly between Khan and the builder, Kejriwal had said that the case was being referred to the CBI. “We had received a complaint, assessed it and have decided to remove Asim from the Cabinet,” the Chief Minister had announced at the Press conference. The question is whether Kejriwal will remove Hussain from his Cabinet and also refer his case to CBI for investigation.
According to Maken, he would be sending the tapes along with a letter to both Kejriwal and the CBI. “The Chief Minister should refer the matter to the CBI. He should immediately remove the Minister till probe is over in the matter.” Reacting to the Congress charge, Hussain said if Maken can prove any of his staff or family member was involved in the sting, he would quit politics.
Maken, along with former city Minister Haroon Yusuf and party chief spokesperson Sharmishtha Mukherjee, has released the video at the Congress hedquarters at Akbar Road.