[1]NEW DELHI: Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress have demanded the resignation of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley over alleged financial irregularities in Delhi’s cricket body the DDCA, which he headed in the past.
Mr Jaitley has shrugged off their accusations, saying, “If they can tell me the specific charge I will be able to respond. I can’t answer a vague allegation without any basis.”
“A state government and party which is in the dock for having supported corruption and having interfered in an investigation in this manner can’t really deflect the issue without any basis,” the minister added.
There has been war since yesterday over CBI raids at the Delhi Secretariat where the state government sits. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has alleged that the CBI raided his office to search for files on the DDCA or Delhi and District Cricket Association, which, he said, had Mr Jaitley’s name on it.
Today he tweeted: AAP alleges that there were financial irregularities when Mr Jaitley was the president of the DDCA for 13 years till December, 2013 and said today that “a proper enquiry cannot be done till the time Jaitley continues in his position.”
The Congress has made its own demand for the minister’s resignation and has sought that a Joint Parliamentary Committee or JPC be set up to probe the allegations.
The Centre and the CBI say the raids yesterday had nothing to do with Mr Kejriwal and were conducted to search the office of his Principal Secretary Rajender Kumar, who has been accused of corruption.
The CBI’s Devpreet Singh said today, “Blatant incorrect information is being spread in certain quarters to obstruct investigation. The CBI categorically denies having seized any material that is not relevant to the case.”
The agency has reiterated that the “Delhi Chief Minister’s office wasn’t raided.”
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