New Delhi: With the Delhi chief minister suggesting that AAP leaders should be prepared for arrest by central probe agencies, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra accused him of "glorifying" corruption and said he has a history of defending his "tainted" colleagues before they had to quit due to mounting evidence.
He is a "megalomaniac" and "bayan bahadur" (one who makes big claims) who is considering himself a god after his party won polls in two states, Patra alleged as the AAP national convener likened his party to "Kanha" -- Lord Krishna's child form who slayed big demons.
The man who took "commission" in liquor trade compares himself to "Kanha", the BJP spokesperson said. The BJP leader claimed that Kejriwal and his party make tall claims before every state polls like they are winning and others are "rattled". He noted the Aam Aadmi Party has "disintegrated" in Himachal Pradesh while its president in Uttarakhand quit even though it had made big claims about its prospects in these two hill states.
Kejriwal had earlier launched a blistering attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP, accusing them of trying to "crush" the AAP in the name of fighting corruption as they feared a defeat in Gujarat polls due later this year. Making light of his claims, Patra said Gujarat has been on the development path for decades under the BJP rule and will remain so.
"We are surprised that he did not say that US president Joe Biden is also afraid of the AAP," Patra said in a swipe at Kejriwal. It seems Kejriwal's certificate on honesty and dishonesty is more important than that of the judiciary, he added. Hitting back at Kejriwal for claiming that his party was "kattar imandaar" (hardcore honest), he said it was in fact "kattar beimaan'" and corrupt.
No government has seen so many of its ministers resigning due to various charges in such a short period as has the AAP dispensation, Patra said citing Jitender Singh Tomar and Sandeep Kumar among others. They were strongly defended by Kejriwal, in the same manner, he is backing his deputy Manish Sisodia, an accused in the alleged excise scam, and jailed minister Satyendar Jain.
Addressing the first-ever national conclave of his party's elected representatives, Kejriwal also alleged that the Modi government has been trying to frame his party ministers and leaders in false corruption cases as the BJP is "not able to digest the growing popularity of the AAP in Gujarat".
As Kejriwal made big claims about his party's prospects and his government's work in Delhi, Patra said he is all about "doing little and making a lot of noise". He is a unique chief minister who has no portfolio, the BJP leader said. Kejriwal has been making irrational claims because he has no real answer to the charges against his party's leaders in corruption cases, he said.
Everything he does is talked about globally, the BJP leader said sarcastically and asked how many COVID-19 patients were treated at the Mohalla clinics he speaks of so highly. In retaliation to Kejriwal's veiled dig at Modi with the claim that those opposed to freebies to people are dishonest and traitors, Patra said those who seek evidence from the Army after surgical strikes on terror camps are the real traitors.
Seeking to pick holes in his claims about which AAP leaders will be targeted by the central probe agencies, he said the Delhi chief minister on the one hand says the CBI and ED are puppets of the Central government and suggests on the other that they inform him about their next move.
As Kejriwal knows which of his ministers are corrupt, he very much understands who can face the consequences, the BJP spokesperson claimed. Patra wondered why the AAP does not record the bribe officers made to its legislators at the BJP's behest as it claims, noting that his party has shared two sting videos about the "excise scam" in Delhi so far. (PTI
