On Thursday, the Delhi Government pulled out its ‘Brahamastra’ to win the war against the Centre. The war was triggered two days ago with the registration of a corruption case by the CBI against the Secretary to Delhi CM, Rajendra Kumar. In reply, the Aam Aadmi Party organised a press conference to slam Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and his involvement in the DDCA scam. During the conference, top leaders of the AAP flaunted documents, claiming that deep-rooted corruption prevailed in the DDCA when Jaitley was the President.
According to former member of the Anti-corruption department of the Delhi Government, and head of the AAP grievance cell, Vinay Mittal, Kejriwal and his close confidantes are in possession of DDCA documents since January 2014. But the question is, why didn’t they reveal the scam earlier?
I was told by Arvind Kejriwal to collect documents on DDCA scam from Kirti Azad and Bhishan Singh Bedi. After studying the papers, I duly informed Mr Kejriwal about the issue. Instead of taking any action, he told me to keep them safely and said that he doesn’t trust the BJP, and would use these document if he or his party comes under fire.Vinay Kumar Mittal, Former Member, Anti-Corruption, Delhi Government & Former Head, Grievance Cell, AAP
Was it a political strategy on part of Kejriwal to hold a press conference on the DDCA irregularities now, and not earlier? Why was he sitting on these documents for all these years? Sources in the CBI has confirmed with The Quint that mid- October the investigating agency set up a preliminary inquiry into the DDCA scam against unknown persons.
Is Kejriwal trying to deflect the issue of corruption on his Secretary, Rajendra Kumar by pointing gun at the Finance Minister? Well, it’s not that Kejriwal was not aware of the corruption allegations against Kumar even, before his appointment, way back in December 2013. The grievance cell of AAP received several anonymous complaints with specific allegations against Kumar.
I had a one-to-one meeting with Arvind Kejriwal for over an hour in December 2013, when the government was in the process of appointing the CM’s secretaryy. I showed him copies of complaints with serious and specific corruption allegations against Rajendra Kumar. But Kejriwal didn’t give any importance to those complaints and brushed them aside.Vinay Kumar Mittal, Former Member, Anti-Corruption, Delhi Government & Former Head, Grievance Cell, AAP
Mittal also pointed that some of the top leaders of the AAP were against the appointment of Kumar as Secretary. But none could raise their voice in front of Kejriwal, who is also known for being autocratic.
Former AAP leader Prashant Bhushan in one of his tweets refers to a complaint sent to Kejriwal by AAP volunteers against Kumar.
Both Kejriwal and Kumar passed out from IIT Kharagpur, though they were from different batches. According to Bhushan, there were murmurs of the corruption allegation against Kumar among top leaders of the AAP, but Kejriwal was not ready to bend.
Bhushan further added that Kejriwal was also aware of Jitendra Singh Tomar’s fake degree when he was appointed as the Delhi Law Minister. He chose not take action against Tomar, instead awarding him with an important ministry.
As the fight between the Centre and the State aggravates, one thing is clear that the AAP, which came in power with 67 seats on the corruption, issue is now finding it difficult to defend its men on corruption charges. On the other hand, Arun Jaitley in his statement rubbished all the allegations made against him. He said that Kejriwal is “acting as a shield to cover an officer under investigation.” The other question which also remains is whether the investigating agencies will be able to conduct a fair investigation in the DDCA, in which the high and mighty are allegedly involved.
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