Arvind Kejriwal, the chief of the Aam Aadmi Party, asserted on Tuesday that the corruption case involving the Delhi Jal Board and former minister Satyender Jain is baseless. He accused the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of detaining Jain at the direction of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Kejriwal’s comments come as the political landscape heats up ahead of the 2024 elections, with allegations of political maneuvering surfacing amid ongoing investigations.
Kejriwal’s reaction came as Jain was arrested on Tuesday over alleged corruption in Delhi Jal Board (DJB) tenders . “The BJP’s cup of sins has now overflowed. No matter how much tyranny they resort to, the end of the Modi government is now certain. The entire Aam Aadmi Party and the people of the country stand firmly with Satyendra Jain ji,” the former Delhi CM added. The case against Satyender Jain and others was registered on the complaint of the Delhi government’s Directorate of Vigilance regarding large-scale irregularities, manipulation of tender conditions, and criminal conspiracy in the tendering process for the augmentation or upgradation of the DJB’s Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs). Apart from Jain, who was then the minister of water, five others have also been arrested. These include former DJB CEO Udit Prakash Rai and the board’s former contractual consultant Ankit Srivastava.
The action was taken by the Delhi Anti-Corruption Bureau in connection with an FIR registered in 2024.
Accusing the ACB of taking action on “BJP’s behest”, Kejriwal said that “lies will be exposed again”, referring to Jain’s previous acquittal in another corruption case. Arvind Kejriwal backed Satyender Jain, saying that the entire Aam Aadmi Party stands “firmly” with the former minister. The other accused arrested are Ankit Srivastava, a former contractual consultant with the DJB, and private persons Nagendra Yadav, Raja Kumar Kurra and Pankaj Verma, the ACB said in a statement.
