JOIN USThe BJP on Sunday demanded an apology from Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for targeting Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) scam, saying the probe report does not name its leader.
At a press conference, party spokesperson M J Akbar said Kejriwal made use of a report of the probe committee to target Jaitley but it did not name him.
“The truth is out. The report does not name Jaitley. There is no allegation against him; there is no indication of wrongdoing. The Delhi chief minister, we believe, should apologise to Jaitley for his allegations. He should publicly apologise. He should also admit his fault in the court,” he said.
Akbar spoke on the contents of the report of the two-member probe panel set up by the Delhi government.
The BJP’s reaction came after media reports said that Jaitley’s name does not figure in the report, which was made public much earlier.
Kejriwal tweeted: “Interesting to see how some media houses are desperately trying to prove Jaitleyji innocent. Why is Jaitleyji afraid of facing enquiry?”
The AAP said Jaitley and BJP were “misinterpreting” the findings of the committee and trying to project that the report gives him a clean chit.
It also accused him of “running away” from probe and challenged him to face an inquiry by an independent agency into charges of corruption.
Akbar said Kejriwal had attacked Jaitley claiming that the recent CBI raid at the Delhi Secretariat was carried out for the DDCA files. “Now the CM himself is trapped. His own team has found no allegation against Jaitley,” he said.
The journalist-turned-MP also found fault with the AAP’s reasoning that the investigation was not meant to name any person but to identify corruption.
AAP leaders said Jaitley could not escape responsibility and only a further probe would bring out all facts.
“Jaitley committed no mistake. But I think Kejriwal committed every mistake,”Akbar said.
BJP National Secretary Srikant Sharma said Jaitley would go ahead with his defamation suit even if Kejriwal chooses to apologise. “You levelled charges to defend your principal secretary facing CBI probe. You raised slogans against corruption and now you are defending the corrupt,” he said.