A day after Malviya Nagar MLA Somnath Bharti was granted bail, he met Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday.
The former Delhi Law Minster, who was booked on charges of assaulting his estranged wife Lipika Mitra, described it as a “personal meeting”. Mr. Bharti said that he went to discuss issues related to his constituency.
“While I was away, there were a lot of issues of my constituency that were pending. Issues like road repair, Jahanpana area sewer lines and water problems were discussed.”
However, sources said that Mr. Bharti went to clarify his stand and met the CM as per protocol. After the Aam Aadmi Party washed its hands off its MLA, asking him to surrender and cooperate with the police, he went into hiding after an FIR was filed. “The party is upset with the MLA for evading arrest. He was assured that the AAP is with him, but hiding in some other State to avoid arrest did upset the party leadership. He went to clear his side,” said a source.
Earlier, Mr Kejriwal had asked Mr. Bharti to cooperate with police and said he had “become an embarrassment to the party and his family”.
Mr. Bharti was arrested last week after he surrendered before police. A court on Wednesday granted him bail, while giving his dog Don a clean chit.
Speculations of Mr. Bharti being expelled are still rife with some party leaders unhappy with him staying on. In fact, AAP leader Mayank Gandhi recently raised the issue and called for action.
Sources said that Bharti went to clarify his stand and met the CM as per protocol
