CM Arvind Kejriwal in Tihar Jail; Delhi stares at uncertain future

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Arvind Kejriwal becomes 1st serving CM to go to Tihar Jail

By Our Special Correspondent

New Delhi, April 1: Rouse Avenue Court on Monday sent Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to Tihar Jail. The court sent the chief minister to the judicial remand till April 15. The workers of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) protested outside the Tihar Jail in solidarity with Arvind Kejriwal.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) accused the Delhi Chief Minister of not cooperating in the investigation in the Delhi Excise scam. The ED also claimed that Kejriwal had been evasive in sharing details of his relations with co-accused Vijay Nair.

Delhi ministers Atishi Marlena and Saurabh Bhardwaj are likely to face the ED scanner. Arvind Kejriwal has told the ED that Nair reported to Atishi and Bhardwaj. Atishi was the in-charge of the AAP for the Goa Assembly elections.

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Arvind Kejriwal has become the first serving chief minister to have gone to the Tihar Jail. Belligerent Arvind Kejriwal has not yet quit his post. Intense speculation is doing the rounds in the national capital of an imminent political instability.

There is a likelihood of Arvind Kejriwal choosing his successor soon. The AAP leaders are growing worried that the Centre may dismiss the city government. The Centre may take an alibi that there is a breakdown of the government machinery in the national capital with the chief minister now in jail.

Hope of Arvind Kejriwal getting bail in the Delhi excise case was also dashed after he was sent to judicial custody. Cases in the Prevention of the Money Laundry Act (PMLA) show in recent years that the accused rarely get bails in quick times. This may put the AAP in a fix.

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Also, the ED scanner on Atishi and Bhardwaj may put the AAP in a leadership vacuum. Atishi has said that she will make an explosive expose tomorrow morning. The top echelon of the AAP leadership is now already in jail. Arvind Kejriwal along with former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, ex-minister Satyender Jain and the Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh will now be in Tihar Jail.

The AAP may have to go for a change of the leadership in the national capital. Sunita Kejriwal is seen to be pushed to the forefront by the AAP. She addressed the Opposition rally at the Ramlila Ground yesterday.

The BJP leaders are claiming that the dismissal of the Delhi government could be on the card. They argue that the dismissal of the city government could hasten deep political crisis within the AAP.

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