Defending Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain who has been arrested in a money-laundering case, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on May 31 said he is a hardcore patriot and an honest person and the allegations against him are "completely false''.
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During a media briefing, the AAP supremo alleged that Mr. Jain's arrest by Enforcement Directorate on Monday was carried out due to political reasons and asserted he would come out clean in the case eventually. "We are hardcore patriots. We consider corruption a betrayal to the country. We can die but cannot betray our country," Mr. Kejriwal said.
Citing the recent case of Punjab, he said that State Health Minister Vijay Singla was sacked over graft charges. He was arrested shortly, with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann asserting 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 CBI. Nobody would have seen this level of honesty from any political party in the world," he said.
Mr. Kejriwal asserted that if there was even one per cent of truth to the allegations against Mr. 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 [Mr. Jain] is brave, a hardcore patriot and this experience will only strengthen his resolve," he said.