Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh on Saturday alleged that the BJP-led Centre is “playing with the life” of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by “keeping him in jail” despite severe weight loss and fluctuations in his blood sugar levels.
Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva junked the charge, calling it the “same old rhetoric” AAP uses whenever it sees chances for bail to the CM, arrested by Central probe agencies in cases linked to the now-withdrawn 2021-22 Delhi excise policy.
There was no comment on the issue from officials of Tihar Jail, where the Chief Minister is currently lodged.
Mr. Kejriwal was granted interim bail on Friday by the Supreme Court in a money laundering case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) with regard to the alleged excise policy scam.
However, he will have to remain in jail till the Delhi High Court decides on his bail plea in another related case filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The CBI had arrested the Chile Minister on June 26, a day after the High Court stayed the statutory bail granted to him by the trial court in the ED case.
‘Health concerns’
Mr. Singh told reporters that the Chief Minister’s body weight has dropped to 61.5 kg from 70 kg since March 21, when he was arrested by the ED.
“A conspiracy is being hatched by the BJP and its Centre to keep him in jail, harass him and make him suffer from the most serious disease,” he alleged.
“Losing 8.5 kg of body weight and not knowing the reason for it is a symptom of many serious diseases,” Mr. Singh said, adding that the CM is also facing fluctuations in sugar levels.
He alleged that when the BJP-led Centre saw that Mr. Kejriwal was likely to get relief from the Supreme Court, they directed the CBI to arrest him in a “false case”.
“Kejriwal will get bail soon in the CBI case as well. We will then respond to this harassment by the BJP,” Mr. Singh added.
Reacting to it, Mr. Sachdeva said the Rajya Sabha MP should remember that when the Chief Minister was granted 21-day bail by the Supreme Court to campaign in the Lok Sabha poll, he “never went for any treatment”. He said the CM during the Lok Sabha election had asked voters if they wanted to see him out of jail but people “rejected” his call as AAP lost the election in Delhi.
Published - July 14, 2024 12:43 am IST
