New Delhi
[dropcap color=”#008040″ boxed=”yes” boxed_radius=”8px” class=”” id=””]I[/dropcap]f Finance minister Arun Jaitley thought his Rs 10 crore ($1.51 million) defamation suit against the leaders of the Aam Admi Party (AAP) including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will scare them for targeting him in the massive scandal surrounding Delhi District and Cricket Association (DDCA) during his tenure as its president for 13 years till 2013, then the AAP brigade has proved him squarely wrong.
On Wednesday, hundreds of AAP workers, mainly its youth wing activists, staged a huge protest outside the Jaitley’s residence in Krishna Menon Marg, seeking his resignation as Finance Minister over his alleged involvement in the DDCA scandal.
The Police used water cannons to keep at bay the protesters. Hundreds of them were also arrested. “The police are playing into the hands of the BJP. They have used force to deter peaceful protesters. We will continue to fight till Jaitley resigns,” said senior AAP leader Ashutosh.
[dropcap color=”#008040″ boxed=”yes” boxed_radius=”8px” class=”” id=””]T[/dropcap]he AAP has gone on the offensive against Jaitley after the CBI raided the Principal secretary of Kejriwal in an alleged eight-year-old corruption case. Kejriwal has claimed that the raid was the part of the Modi’s regime of vendetta politics. He also alleged that the CBI scanned the papers of the Chief Minister’s office to locate documents related to DDCA scandal.
The raid has obviously boomeranged as the CBI failed to unearth any incriminating evidence against Kejriwal’s principal secretary, but it gave the AAP leadership an opportunity to target Jaitley in the DDCA row with some support from BJP MP and former cricketer Kriti Azad. The BJP MP recently released several documents and videos to show how a massive loot of fund flourished for years in the DDCA.
The AAP protest came a day after the BJP held a similar protest to oppose the Kejriwal government’s decision to set up an inquiry commission to go into the DDCA scandal. On Tuesday, the state assembly passed a resolution to set up the inquiry under the Commission of Inquiry Act. “Jaitley must resign and present himself before the Inquiry commission. He can feign innocence when such massive irregularities took place under his nose for 13 years,” Ashutosh said.
[dropcap color=”#008040″ boxed=”yes” boxed_radius=”8px” class=”” id=””]D[/dropcap]emands for Jaitley’s resignation also echoed in parliament once again. Congress MPs trooped into the well of Rajya Sabha and raised slogans against Jaitley. In LS too, Congress MPs demanded Jaitley’s resignation.
For years, Jaitley has been one of the most powerful politicians of the country who has powerful friends and powerful enemies. This time around, his enemies seemed to have joined hands and are determined to corner him in a scandal where his reputation — more than anything else — is at stake.
Note:
1. The conversion rate used in this article is 1 USD = 66.24 Rupees.
2. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
