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BJP MP and former AAP leader Swati Maliwal on Wednesday levelled serious allegations against AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, alleging that he ran a "shop of corruption" in Delhi for a decade and has now shifted his operations to Punjab.
Speaking to reporters, Maliwal alleged that Kejriwal deliberately avoided holding any ministry during his tenure as Delhi Chief Minister so that he could shift blame onto his ministers whenever a scam surfaced. "In the last 10 years in Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal was running a shop of corruption. Whether it was the school classroom construction scam, the liquor scam, or countless other scams that these people orchestrated. And if we observe closely, Arvind Kejriwal operated very shrewdly," Maliwal said. "During the 10 years he remained the Chief Minister of Delhi, he did not hold charge of a single ministry. His modus operandi is very clear: he orchestrated corruption through his ministers, and the moment a minister was exposed, he would shift the entire blame onto that minister," she said. Her remarks come amid the ongoing controversy over alleged irregularities and manipulation in the tendering process of upgradation of Sewage Treatment Plants under Delhi Jal Board. AAP leader Satyendar Jain was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Branch along with six others in connection to the case. Maliwal claimed the Delhi Jal Board sewage treatment plant row had directly hampered efforts to clean the Yamuna River. "Now, the sewage treatment plant scam related to the Delhi Jal Board that has come to light is extremely serious, because sewage treatment plants are a crucial aspect of cleaning Mother Yamuna. Until sewage treatment plants are built properly and in sufficient numbers in Delhi, the Yamuna cannot be cleaned. Arvind Kejriwal thought that since Yamuna won't fetch votes, why not mint notes (money) out of Mother Yamuna! And for this reason, he engaged in such corruption," she said. Maliwal further alleged that with AAP's activities in Delhi slowing down, the party had opened a bigger front of corruption in Punjab. "As soon as Arvind Kejriwal's 'shop of corruption' shut down in Delhi, he opened massive 'malls of corruption' in Punjab. Satyendar Jain is functioning as a collection agent in Punjab for the party, the Aam Aadmi Party. He is openly extorting money from builders and real estate developers. And if this is not true, then tell me, why has he been provided a bungalow in Chandigarh, Punjab, that is even more luxurious than those allotted to ministers? How is he residing in Bungalow No. 926, Sector 39? Why has such a massive mansion been allotted to him when he is just an ex-MLA from Delhi?" she said. Calling Kejriwal the sole person orchestrating the alleged corruption in both states, Maliwal said, "Arvind Kejriwal has a movie titled 'The Book of Corruption: Delhi to Punjab'. The writer, director, producer, and choreographer of this entire movie is Arvind Kejriwal. Those getting arrested now--Satyendar Jain and others--are merely actors in this film. The actual action has been directed by Arvind Kejriwal, and action must be taken against him." When asked by a reporter about AAP's claim that Jain was in jail when the alleged scam took place, Maliwal dismissed the defence. "Well, they were running the entire government from jail itself; what doubt is there? Arvind Kejriwal himself spent so many days in jail--did he not run the government? They have been running governments from jail, and this is a very serious case of corruption. As I mentioned, this corruption directly impacts the cleaning of the Yamuna. How many sewage treatment plants did they build? And whatever they built, they committed corruption in those as well! How then could the Yamuna ever be cleaned?" she said. Meanwhile, AAP chief national spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar accused the BJP of using its "usual pattern" of implicating AAP leaders ahead of elections. "Satyendar Jain is the co-in-charge for Punjab, and elections are approaching; the BJP has resumed its usual pattern. People understand these tactics now, and absolutely no one believes the false cases being filed against Satyendar Jain. They had previously jailed him in a false case, and the alleged scam now being cited is said to have occurred while he was already in jail... The BJP has jailed many of our leaders in false cases before, only for us to receive a clean chit from the courts; the courts even discharged us, stating the cases weren't even fit for trial. The same will happen this time," Kakkar told ANI. She further alleged that the BJP was targeting AAP because it could not match the party's governance record, and turned the corruption charge back on the BJP's Delhi government. "The youth are angry with them today. Will the youth align with them given these actions? They engaged in the theft of donations and played with people's faith. Will people forget these things? That is not going to happen... if the ACB and the BJP genuinely want to take action against corruption, they should go to Rekha Gupta and arrest her and her entire cabinet... the BJP attempts to malign Arvind Kejriwal's politics because they cannot counter his policies; they fear that if he continues to deliver this kind of governance, the BJP will lose its relevance," Kakkar said. According to the ACB, the accused have been arrested in connection with an FIR registered under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the IPC. The other accused arrested in the case have been identified as Ankit Srivastava, former contractual consultant with the Delhi Jal Board; Nagendra Yadav, proprietor of M/s AN Enterprises; Raja Kumar Kurra, owner of M/s Euroteck Environment Pvt. Ltd., former Delhi Jal Board CEO Udit Prakash Rai and Pankaj Verma, proprietor of M/s Srijanhar. The case was registered on a complaint by the Directorate of Vigilance, GNCTD, following allegations of large-scale irregularities, manipulation of tender conditions and criminal conspiracy in the DJB tendering process. During the investigation, the ACB allegedly found that restrictive technical specifications and conditions were introduced in the tender in a manner that favoured a particular technology provider, M/s Euroteck Environment Pvt. Ltd., thereby allegedly restricting competition and providing undue advantage to the private entity. The investigation also revealed alleged non-conduct of a proposed pilot study, inclusion of restrictive conditions relating to the technology and media to be used, exclusion of essential parameters concerning treated effluent and subsequent changes in technical specifications, according to the ACB. (ANI)
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