Conman targets Kejriwal in letter; AAP hits back

NEW DELHI: Weeks after writing a letter to lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena over Delhi minister Satyendar Jain allegedly extorting ₹10 crore from him, jailed conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar on Saturday made fresh accusations, saying that he paid Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal “₹50 crore for a nomination to the Rajya Sabha”, prompting a retort from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief.

In a note released to news organisations, Chandrashekhar alleged that Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal asked him to collect ₹500 crore for the party and that Jain threatened him.

Kejriwal hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for its “dirty tactics” ahead of civic polls in the Capital and assembly elections in Gujarat, rubbishing Chandrashekhar’s claims as “fictional tales”.

“A magazine called Manohar Kahiyan used to come out earlier. Now, there will be a new magazine called BJP’s Manohar Kahaniyan,” he said, referring to a monthly Hindi fiction magazine. He said that the saffron party was concocting the conman’s claims to deflect attention from the bridge collapse in Gujarat’s Morbi that killed 135.

“Why did the letter come out a day after the Morbi tragedy? The media ran news of the Morbi tragedy all of Monday. On Tuesday, news of Sukesh’s letter took over and Morbi vanished,” he said.

Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta, meanwhile, said the allegations made by Chandrashekhar were serious and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) should initiate probes in the matter. “He said he delivered ₹50 crore at transport minister Kailash Gahlot’s farmhouse. This is corruption of the highest order.”

In a letter to the LG recently, Chandrashekhar alleged that Jain “extorted ₹10 crore” in 2019 for his “safety” in the prison. He has now alleged that Jain, along with the former Tihar director general, threatened him after his letter to the LG became public.

Gahlot did not respond to requests seeking comment.

Chandrashekhar alleged that Kejriwal forced him to bring “over 20 people to contribute ₹500 crore towards his party”.

Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia alleged that Chandrashekhar will “soon join the BJP”.

“He will level absurd allegations against Kejriwal every day and in return, the BJP will help him in the case...I have heard that [BJP president Jai Prakash] Nadda will help him join the party next week,” he tweeted.