A day after Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain’s arrest, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called the case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) “completely fake and fraud” and said that Jain was targeted due to “political reasons”.
Kejriwal also claimed that his Government was honest and his “Government does not tolerate corruption” and like many other MLAs of the party, the Delhi Health Minister will also be acquitted by the court.
“I have personally studied this (Jain's arrest by the ED) case. We neither tolerate corruption nor do we do corruption. We have a very honest Government. He has been targeted because of political reasons," Kejriwal said while addressing the media. The Chief Minister further said that he was a hardcore patriot and an honest person. "We are hardcore patriots. We consider corruption a betrayal of the country.
We can die but cannot betray our country," Kejriwal said. Citing the recent case of Punjab, he said that State Health Minister Vijay Singla was sacked over graft charges. He was arrested soon after, with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann asserting that his Government has zero-tolerance for corruption.
"We sent our Minister to jail. Neither the media nor the Opposition knew about his corruption and we could have suppressed the matter, but we didn't. Even in 2015, I had sacked my Food Minister (Asim Ahmed Khan) and handed him over to the CBI. Nobody would have seen this level of honesty from any political party in the world," he said.
Kejriwal asserted that if there was even one per cent of truth in the allegations against Jain, he would have himself sacked him. "We follow Bhagat Singh's ideals. He gave his life for the country. Every AAP worker knows that if they have to stay in the party, they should be ready to sacrifice their lives and go to jail.
He (Jain) is a brave, hardcore patriot and this experience will only strengthen his resolve," he said.
Opposition leaders have slammed the Central Government for the action by central probe agencies against rivals. "Satyendar Jain arrested under PMLA for alleged money laundering.
PMLA’s misuse rampant. A weapon that often serves not legal but political ends. (sic)," former Union Minister Kapil Sibal tweeted.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah also appeared for questioning on Tuesday in a money laundering case.