Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday hit back at the Aam Aadmi Party over allegations of irregularities against him in the affairs of the Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA), saying it was Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s propaganda to deflect attention when he himself was in the “dock”.
Simultaneously, the BJP closed ranks behind the Finance Minister with Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani terming a “blasphemous” the AAP’s charge to describe Kejriwal’s campaign against Jaitley.
“A leader with an impeccable political record in this country, who has defended the Constitution not only in Parliament but also in courts of law in this nation, today stands to be defamed by a blasphemous and preposterous campaign bordering on political hysteria as has been the effort of the Aam Aadmi Party,” Irani said. Irani said the BJP “resolutely stands behind” the Finance Minister. The DDCA also held a press conference to strongly defend Jaitley.
Jaitley dismissed Kejriwal’s allegations as “fake”. “Free speech is unquestionably a pre-eminent Fundamental Right, but does free speech include the right to speak only falsehood? The Delhi Chief Minister, Mr Arvind Kejriwal, seems to believe in untruth and defamation, delivered in a language that borders on hysteria,” Jaitley said. He argued that Kejriwal was targeting him as he wanted to deflect attention from his shielding of a corrupt officer.
The CBI had raided Kejriwal’s office earlier this week, apparently in connection with a probe against his Principal Secretary Rajender Gupta. The AAP’s contention was that these raids were conducted to prevent Kejriwal from investigating corruption in the DDCA.
Jaitley accused Kejriwal of resorting to “false propaganda continuously”. “There is no grain of truth in the allegations. I have consistently practised highest standards of probity in whatever positions I have held,” the Finance Minister said at a press conference as the AAP again attacked him on Thursday and asked him to quit.
The Finance Minister said no personal allegations were ever made against him nor did he feel the need of contradicting it. He said he had now felt the need for speaking in order to counter “any unsubstantiated non-specific allegations”.
“I have left cricket administration in 2013. By referring to some facts of 2014 and 2015, he cannot drag me in,” Jaitley said.
“Even though I am not concerned with cricket administration since 2013, a Member of Parliament has been writing to various government bodies with regard to Delhi’s cricket affairs. The UPA government seized the opportunity and referred the complaints to the SFIO which investigated all his complaints over a period of time and submitted a detailed report on March 21, 2013.”
“The report concluded in relation to the DDCA being registered under the Companies Act that: thus, in a nutshell, there are certain irregularities/non-compliance or technical violations, but no fraud (was) noticed as alleged,” he said quoting from the report.
Asking why Kejriwal should place himself as a shield in front of an official facing investigation, Jaitley said: “It is a part of propaganda technique to deflect attention when you yourself are in the dock. Finding himself acting as shield to cover an officer under investigation, the Delhi Chief Minister attempted to focus attention on me.”