Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, recently sent the names of two AAP legislators, Saurabh Bhardwaj and Atishi, to Vinai Kumar Saxena, the lieutenant governor of Delhi, for consideration as ministers in the cabinet. Reports state that Kalkaji Legislator Atishi, who has collaborated closely with Manish Sisodia, and AAP main spokesman Saurabh Bharadwaj, a three-time MLA who presently serves as vice chairman of the Delhi Jal Board, will join the Delhi cabinet.
The news comes after Manish Sisodia, who handled 18 departments, and Satyendra Jain, who has been detained in Tihar for months on suspicion of money laundering, both announced their resignations from the Cabinet on Tuesday. According to ANI, senior AAP leaders Kailash Gahlot and Raaj Kumar Anand would receive the departments currently held by Sisodia. “Sisodia held 18 departments, some of which will now be handled by Kailash Gahlot and the rest by Raaj Kumar Anand,” ANI quoted a source as saying on Tuesday.
Deputy Chief Minister Sisodia was arrested by the CBI earlier on Sunday as part of an ongoing investigation into suspected anomalies in the formulation and execution of the new excise policy of the Delhi government. “Several FIRs have been registered against me and more are in the offing. They left no stone unturned to ensure that I leave you. I was threatened and even offered a bribe, but I did not relent. As a result, they arrested me for not bowing before them”, Sisodia wrote in his resignation letter.
“I am not scared of their jails and am not the first person to be arrested for following the path of truth. I have read countless stories of people who fought against the British and were jailed on false charges. Some were even hanged till death”, he added. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court turned down Sisodia’s appeal against his arrest in the excise policy issue. DY Chandrachud, the Chief Justice of India, presided over a bench that stated the Supreme Court is not inclined to hear the plea at this time and advised Sisodia to file a case with the Delhi High Court.