‘Purely political’: AAP minister targets BJP over Satyendar Jain’s arrest
The AAP leader said the party has been getting a good response from the people of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, where it is contesting Assembly polls later this year, and this has rattled the BJP.
Social Welfare Minister in the Delhi government and AAP leader Rajendra Pal Gautam on Thursday said the recent arrest of Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain was a sign of “BJP’s fear about AAP’s political gains”. Jain, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday, has been sent to ED custody till June 9 in a case of alleged money laundering.
Gautam said the case has been dragging on for the past eight years and none of the central agencies have found any proof about the minister’s alleged role in the matter. “This action is purely political and is directly in retaliation to AAP forming the government in Punjab after a landslide win,” he said.
The AAP leader said the party has been getting a good response from the people of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, where it is contesting Assembly polls later this year, and this has rattled the BJP.
He also said Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia could be the “next target of BJP and central agencies”. “They had tried to implicate 28 of our leaders but all the cases fell flat,” he said. “All these actions are to stop us from reaching the people and taking the message of good governance to them. In fact, the Delhi model of governance has taken the wind out of the so-called Gujarat model,” said Gautam.
Asked about the decision of former Congress leader Hardik Patel to join the BJP, Gautam said people have the right to choose their political parties. “For us, governance and honesty is more important than a person,” he said.
On the recent murder of popular singer Sidhu Moosewala in Punjab within days of his security cover being withdrawn, the minister said the singer had four body guards but had chosen to travel without them.
