‘Centre targeting AAP MLAs like British did freedom fighters’

NEW DELHI: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday that his principal secretary, Rajendra Kumar, ‘seems’ to be innocent and is being targeted because he is working for the Delhi government.

Kejriwal was answering a question during the ‘Talk to AK’ programme, which got 9,000 SMS messages.

He was asked if he did not conduct a background check on the officer before appointing him.

“Several of our leaders have been falsely accused of corruption or criminal activities. Kumar seems to be innocent. Even if he is not, it is curious that only he has been caught in cases dating back to 2008. The Centre is not probing the Commonwealth Games scam, but they are arresting officers from my office. If Rajendra Kumar was not in my office, I bet he wouldn’t have been arrested.” he said.

“The message to officers is do not work for us. Amit Shah is micromanaging CBI. But every dog has his day. All these things will soon come to an end,” he said.

When asked why his MLAs were being arrested one after the other and why they were so ‘bad’, Kejriwal said they were being arrested in ‘fake’ cases.

“Our MLA, Commando Surinder Singh, who fought against terrorists during the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and lost hearing, has been accused of casteist abuse and assault. He was only asking NDMC officials to not take bribe, Kejriwal said.

Model Town MLA Akhilesh Pati Tripathi was accused of sexual harassment and there wasn’t any evidence against him and he was acquitted, he said.

The Anti-Corruption Branch was taken away from us and now only goes after Manish Sisodia and Kapil Mishra (ministers),” Kejriwal said.

He said AAP MLAs were ready to go to jail at any time.

“The Centre today is working like the British did before Independence. They are treating AAP MLAs the way the British used to treat freedom fighters. I have asked MLAs to be ready to go to jail. I have told them this is the second freedom struggle,” Kejriwal said.