Harassment due to ED raids forced Kailash Gehlot to quit, hints Kejriwal

New Delhi, Nov 17 : AAP convenor and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday claimed that harassment due to raids by the Enforcement Directorate forced Delhi Minister Kailash Gehlot to step down.

At a joint press conference organised to induct Poorvanchali leader Anil Jha into AAP, Kejriwal proded a co-speaker to highlight that Gehlot was facing ED raids, besides Income Tax probe, that forced him to gravitate towards the BJP.

Hinting at a BJP conspiracy behind Gehlot’s move and suggesting that the Jat leader was arm-twisted into resigning, Kejriwal reiterated the allegation that the BJP-led Central government was misusing central government agencies to slap false corruption charges on AAP leaders and stopping them from serving the people.

Earlier, citing challenges like corruption and AAP’s deviation from the path of fighting for public welfare, Gehlot on Sunday resigned from the Delhi Cabinet and the party, delivering a big blow to the AAP ahead of the Assembly elections in February.

In a letter addressed to party convener Arvind Kejriwal, the 50-year-old Jat leader alleged the allegations of corruption surrounding the former’s official residence, when he was the Chief Minister, were a cause of “embarrassment” and also hit out at the AAP government for frequently picking up fights with the Central government.

“There are many embarrassing and awkward controversies like the 'Sheeshmahal’, which are now making everyone doubt whether we still believe in being the Aam Aadmi,” he wrote, indirectly referring to the wasteful expenditure of Rs 45 crore on renovation of Kejriwal’s former official residence in north Delhi’s Civil Lines area. The alleged wrongdoings in the renovation are also being probed by the CBI.

The Jat leader expressed his pain over inability to serve the people while remaining in the AAP. “I had started my political journey with the commitment to serve the people of Delhi and I want to continue doing that. Which is why, I find myself left with no option but to step away from AAP and hence I resign from primary membership of Aam Aadmi Party,” he wrote.