PM targeting AAP due to its surge in Goa, Punjab, Guj: Sisodia

The arrest of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's Principal Secretary Rajendra Kumar by CBI today is "unprecedented" and it is the lowest level to which the Centre has stooped since 1991 when an elected government first came to power in Delhi, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said today.

Reacting angrily to the arrest of Kumar, a 1989 batch IAS officer of UT cadre, Sisodia alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was misusing his powers to destabilise the Delhi Chief Minister's Office as AAP was surging ahead in many poll-bound states like Punjab, Gujarat and Goa.

"The arrest of Kumar is part of a conspiracy to paralyse the Chief Minister's office and the AAP government. Prime Minister Modi has hatred towards AAP government and the arrest of two senior officials of Chief Minister's Office is part of the conspiracy," Sisodia said addressing a press conference.

Kumar, an IIT alumnus, Deputy Secretary Tarun Sharma and three other private persons were arrested in connection with a case of showing undue favours to a private company in award of government contracts worth over Rs 50 crore during the previous Congress government.

Referring to the probe by the Anti-Corruption Branch into the tanker scam, Sisodia asked why Water Minister Kapil Mishra was being interrogated when Sheila Dikshit was an accused in the scam that had taken place during her chief ministership.

"There is a conspiracy to paralyse the Chief Minister's office as the Principal Secretary and Deputy Secretary to the Chief Minister have been arrested. Even an Assistant Secretary has been transferred to Andamans and all this has been done in one day.

"This is the lowest level to which a Central government has stooped from the time Delhi has had an elected government in 1991," Sisodia said, alleging arrest of Kumar was just a pretext as the main aim was to destabilise the Chief Minister's office due to political reasons.

On the tanker scam, he wondered why the accused are not being questioned by the probe agency and why those who sought a thorough investigation were being "targeted".

"We are doing well in Goa, Punjab, Gujarat and Modiji is rattled by that. That is why he is resorting to this kind activities," he said.

Kumar was appointed Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister in February last year when the Aam Aadmi Party came to power for the second time. The allegations against Kumar pertains his tenure in various positions under the Dikshit dispensation.

"11 senior officers have been transferred out of Delhi on a single day, that too illegally without meeting of Joint Cadre Authority.

"Senior officers handling major projects for development of unauthorised colonies have been transferred to Andamans. Modiji, even if you only leave us with just peons, we will run the government with them," Sisodia said.

He said, "Today, one of our ministers, Kapil Mishra was called for questioning by the ACB. This is clearly an attempt to paralyse our government. All this is happening because AAP is winning the elections in Punjab and Goa and garnering massive support in Gujarat."

The CBI had conducted a raid on Kumar's office at the Delhi Secretariat last year on December 15, triggering a huge confrontation between the Delhi government and the Centre.

Kejriwal had come in open defence of Kumar and had slammed Centre for the raid.