Two new ministers will join the Arvind Kejriwal cabinet in Delhi after the resignations of Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain following corruption allegations against them, the Aam Admi Party said on Tuesday. Kejriwal has accepted the resignations of Sisodia and Jain who had held most of the important portfolios of Delhi government.
"Two ministers of the Delhi government are in jail today. They have resigned from the cabinet. Delhi has very small cabinet that includes chief minister and other six ministers. As important ministries were held by these two leaders, two new ministers will join the cabinet in their places to ensure smooth functioning of Delhi Government,” AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj said.
Bhardwaj, however, did not disclose the names of those who will get ministerial posts nor did he give any time line of inducting the new ministers.
"It is unfortunate for the country that Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain known for their work have been implicated in false cases by the Centre. It has given a signal in the country that the Centre is behind this entire episode," he said.
The development came two days after Sisodia was arrested by the CBI on Sunday in connection with alleged irregularities in the framing and implementation of now-scrapped excise policy of the Delhi government. A local court has sent him to five-day CBI custody and the Supreme Court, on Tuesday, refused to hear his bail application. Jain was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in May last year in a money laundering case and is currently lodged in Tihar jail.
Sisodia was holding the charge of 18 out of 33 departments of the Delhi government, including health, finance, education and home. These portfolios would now be allotted to Revenue Minister Kailash Gahlot and Social Welfare Minister Raj Kumar Anand. Though Jain continued to be a minister in the government even after his arrest, his portfolios, including health, home and urban development, had been handed over to Sisodia.