Huge storm erupts as CBI raids Arvind Kejriwal’s secretary

Delhi CM hits out at Modi, calls him a ‘psychopath, coward’; targets Jaitley too

A full-blown political war erupted between the Centre and the Opposition, particularly the Aam Aadmi Party, over a CBI raid at the office of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday morning. While Mr Kejriwal claimed there was a CBI raid at his office and that it had been sealed, the CBI clarified there was no raid at the CM’s office and the investigating team was only searching his principal secretary Rajendra Kumar’s workplace at the Players Building, home of the Delhi Secretariat.

Going on the offensive, the Delhi CM called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “psychopath” and a “coward”, and the issue reverberated in Parliament, where finance minister Arun Jaitley made a statement claiming there was no raid at the chief minister’s office. An angry Opposition, however, forced three adjournments in the House over the issue by shouting slogans, alleging an “attack on the federal structure” and claiming there was an “undeclared Emergency” in the country. In Kolkata, West Bengal CM and Trinamul supremo Mamata Banerjee said she was “shocked” by the raid. In response to a tweet from Ms Banerjee, Mr Kejriwal said: “Didi this is an undeclared emergency”. Mr Kejriwal’s deputy, Manish Sisodia, said the real target of the CBI raid was the chief minister and that Rajendra Kumar was just an excuse.

Later on Tuesday evening, a combative Mr Kejriwal said the day-long action by the investigative agency was to search for an inquiry committee file on the Delhi District Cricket Association that “traps” Mr Jaitley, a former DDCA office-bearer. “It has become necessary to reveal why the CBI came to my office today and which was the file they were looking for. This is the DDCA file, under which Arun Jaitley is getting trapped. (Ye file hai DDCA ka file jiske andar Arun Jaitley phas rahe hain).”

Mr Kejriwal said his government had set up an inquiry committee to probe alleged irregularities in DDCA, which had submitted its report. “Jaitley was DDCA president for many years, and I had set up a committee to probe all the corruption that has taken place during his tenure. The committee has submitted its report and a commission of inquiry is to be set up over it, and a file pertaining to it was in my office.”

The CBI raid resonated in Parliament, with Opposition MPs saying it was a “serious attack on the federal polity” even as the government insisted the investigation had nothing do with Arvind Kejriwal but only pertained to an official in his office. The issue was raised by Trinamul members in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha leading to an uproar and ruckus as the Opposition members said that an “undeclared Emergency” had been imposed in the country.

Mr Jaitley responded in both Houses, saying members should not be “misled” as the CBI raid had nothing to do with Mr Kejriwal or his tenure but pertained to an official in the chief minister’s office against whom a complaint had been registered before the AAP had come to power. He said the CBI conducted searches at 14 places over the corruption complaint against the official.

An angry Opposition, however, forced three adjournments in the Rajya Sabha over the issue by shouting slogans, alleging an “attack on the federal structure” and an “undeclared Emergency” in the country. The issue was earlier raised by Trinamul leader Derek O’Brien, who alleged this was an “undeclared Emergency” in the country that the office of the Delhi CM was being raided.

“This is not a party issue. This is about the federal structure of the country. This is a federal issue,” Mr O’Brien said as some TMC members shouted slogans and entered the Well of the House

Joining him, Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad accused the government of “murdering the Constitution” and saidelected non-BJP state governments needed to be “saved from this BJP government (at the Centre)”.

Congress members kept shouting slogans like “stop the murder of democracy and “stop murder of Constitution”. Members of the Left parties and the JD(U) also stood in their seats when the issue was raised.

In a stern warning to the PM, Mr Kejriwal warned that he would not be “cowed down” by any CBI raid. “I’m telling you, Modiji, you may have scared others, but I’m not among those who can be intimidated. I’ll fight till my last breath.”

“When Modi couldn’t handle me politically, he resorts to this cowardice. Modi is a coward and psychopath,” he said, sparking angry condemnation from a furious BJP, which demanded an apology from the chief minister for his “disgraceful” remarks.

After a meeting with his Cabinet colleagues and senior AAP leaders that lasted around two hours, Mr Kejriwal said the Centre would not be able to scare him and that he will continue to fight till his last breath. “They have no interest in the contracts awarded by Rajender. If he had awarded contracts in 2007, what were you doing till 2015, Modiji ... It’s been long that your government has come.”

Mr Kejriwal went on to add: “They say that my choice of words were incorrect, but your actions are bad. My words may be bad, I was born in Siwan village of Haryana. May be my words were bad. But your actions are bad. You apologise to the nation for your misdeeds, and I will apologise for my words.”

The CBI earlier clarified it carried out searches at the office of Mr Kejriwal’s principal secretary Rajender Kumar at the Delhi Secretariat, and not that of the chief minister. This action was over allegations that Mr Kumar had favoured certain private companies in awarding government contracts from 2007 to 2014.

The CBI conducted searches at Rajendra Kumar’s office after it registered a corruption case against him. It said it had seized Rs 13 lakhs in cash, including Rs 2.4 lakhs from Mr Kumar’s residence, as it simultaneously conducted raids at around 14 locations in the national capital and in Uttar Pradesh. Foreign currency of the value of Rs 3 lakhs was also recovered from Mr Kumar’s residence.

Sources said a team of CBI officials went to the Delhi Secretariat and conducted the operation on the third floor of the building. The CBI said it registered a case against Mr Kumar and others on allegations against the officer that he abused his official position by “favouring a particular firm, allegedly floated by him, in the last few years in getting tenders from Delhi government departments”.