Anurag Thakur slams Kejriwal for not quitting Delhi CM post, says no corrupt person will be spared

Slamming Arvind Kejriwal for not quitting as Delhi's chief minister after being arrested in a corruption case, Union Minister Anurag Thakur said the law of the land is equal for everyone.

Jammu: Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Wednesday hit out at Arvind Kejriwal for not quitting as Delhi chief minister after being arrested in a corruption case, saying his ambition to remain in power is so strong that he has not resigned despite being behind bars. The law of the land is equal for everyone and no corrupt person will be spared by the Narendra Modi government, he said.

Kejriwal, who is also the AAP national convener, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21 in connection with an excise policy-linked money laundering case. He has been remanded in the ED custody till March 28. While campaigning for Union Minister Jitendra Singh in Udhampur, Thakur dismissed the opposition INDIA bloc's "maha rally" at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan on March 31, saying "chor chor musere bhai", which roughly translates to all the corrupt people are in cahoots.

Despite being in jail, Kejriwal's ambition for the chief minister position remains steadfast with corruption allegations against him breaking records, Thakur said. He also wondered whether the Congress had lost its conscience as it was supporting Kejriwal, who had once sought Sonia Gandhi's arrest. "Today, the Congress must introspect. Have they sold their conscience too? Arvind Kejriwal earlier used to demand the arrest of Sonia Gandhi, but all the corrupt forces are in cahoots today," the senior BJP leader said.

"The question is what prompted this drastic change? Why is Congress aligning today with Kejriwal's corruption? Where are the Congress leaders who, until recently, advocated for legal action in the liquor scam," Thakur said. He wondered whether the Congress also believed Kejriwal was innocent. "The law of the land is equal for everyone. Everyone from their party (AAP), councillor to MP to MLA to minister to deputy chief minister are in jail and now the staunch corrupt Arvind Kejriwal is also in jail," Thakur said.

Addressing BJP workers in Udhampur district headquarters, he said, "After taking over as Prime Minister (in 2014), Modi had made it clear that he will neither indulge in corruption nor allow anyone to take money." "(Congress leaders) Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi are out on bail. (Former Bihar chief minister) Lalu Prasad Yadav is also on bail in a fodder scam. (AAP leaders) Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh and Satyendra Jain are all in jail along with Kejriwal," he said.

Earlier, Thakur participated in a bike rally and attended the organizational meeting at the BJP office (Udhampur) and also joined the Viksit Bharat Ambassador programme.