Delhi cabinet now has five ministers including Arvind Kejriwal.
New Delhi:
Arrested Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ministers Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain today resigned from the Delhi cabinet. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal accepted their resignations and reassigned their ministries.
The resignations were in no way an admission of guilt, with the AAP insisting it was an “administrative step”. Party sources said that no new minister will be included in the cabinet.
Manish Sisodia’s portfolios will be handed over to Kailash Gehlot and Raj Kumar Anand.
In his resignation letter, Mr. Sisodia said that he had served Delhi for eight years with full dedication and wanted to quit unless the allegations were proved to be false. “There are likely to be more cases against me… God knows these allegations are false.”
Mr Sisodia was arrested on Sunday on charges of corruption in the Delhi Liquor Policy matter. Prior to his arrest, he predicted that he would be in prison for “7–8 months”.
The Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi had the charge of 18 ministries, including the health department of Satyendar Jain, who has been in jail for 10 months.
Soon after the resignation, the BJP questioned why the arrested minister was still in the Delhi government.
The Delhi cabinet now has five ministers, including Mr. Kejriwal, who have not taken up any ministry, instead pursuing AAP’s national plans.
Mr Sisodia, widely seen as Mr Kejriwal’s number two in the party and government, had largely taken charge of ministries, leaving the AAP chief free to focus on the party’s campaign across the country. was abandoned.
When Satyendar Jain was arrested in May on charges of money laundering, Kejriwal transferred his portfolios to Mr Sisodia. Mr. Jain held on to his job despite being in jail.
But AAP sources said with Mr Sisodia’s arrest, the Delhi government has a vacuum in key departments such as finance, health and education.
Mr Kejriwal may be forced to cut down on his visits to other states and take charge of some ministries. This is a big blow to AAP as it gears up for the 2024 national elections. The chief minister reportedly planned to visit states like Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, where elections will be held later this year.
As far as Delhi is concerned, it will need a finance minister to present the budget.