Terming the case against Delhi’s Health Minister Satyendar Jain as “completely fake”, Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal expressed his solidarity with his cabinet colleague through a video statement issued on Tuesday.
Mr. Jain, who was arrested on Monday in connection with a money laundering case, was remanded to Enforcement Directorate’s custody till June 9 by a special CBI court on Monday.
In his statement, AAP chief said Mr. Jain was a “staunch patriot” and an honest person. “Such things will only strengthen him,” Mr. Kejriwal said, adding that his party believed in the principles of Bhagat Singh, who laid down his life for the country.
“I have seen all the papers related to his case. It is fake. We are completely honest and patriotic people. We consider corruption the highest form of treason. We will lay down our lives if need be but never engage in corruption. We can never betray our Bharat Mata,” Mr. Kejriwal said.
To buttress his claims about his party’s aversion to corruption, Mr. Kejriwal cited two instances where AAP had expelled a sitting minister accused of graft.
He said that earlier this month, AAP’s government in Punjab had sent its minister Vijay Singla to jail. “No one knew about his case. Not media or opposition. We could have suppressed the matter, but we did not,” he said.
The AAP chief said that in 2015 also he had dismissed a sitting Minister, Asim Ahmed Khan, and handed him over to the CBI for alleged corruption. He reiterated that these were cases about which little was known outside the party, however, AAP chose to publicly disclose these cases.
Talking about ED’s case against Mr. Jain, the Delhi CM said, “If there was 1% truth in the case, then I would have myself taken action against him. They’ve filed several such cases against the majority of our MLAs. All those MLAs were acquitted from the court of law.”
AAP chief said he himself had been a victim of such cases with several Central government agencies having subjected him to raids multiple times. However, those agencies could never frame him in any case, Mr. Kejriwal added.
“In the end, Satyendar Jain will also be acquitted by the court. Our party believes in the principles of Bhagat Singh, who laid down his life for the country. To go to jail for the country and society is not a disgrace, but a matter of pride. Every AAP worker knows that to be in the party, you should be always ready to go to jail,” AAP chief said.
In his video statement, Mr. Kejriwal also expressed sympathy for Mr. Jain’s family.
“I can understand what his wife and children must be going through. I want to tell them that he is a man of great valour. The Lord is watching and I am certain that he is on our side. We have full faith in the judiciary. He [Mr. Jain] will certainly walk scot-free from the court of law,” he added.
