"Kingpin's Turn Will Come": Anurag Thakur On Delhi Liquor Policy Case Arrests

Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Thursday said the former deputy chief minister of Delhi and others have landed up in jail in connection with an excise policy case and the turn of its "kingpin", who is still out, will also come.

Talking to reporters at the Swami Vivekananda airport in Chhattisgarh capital Raipur, Mr Thakur targeted the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, claiming that those who were elected to power by raising the slogan of "India against corruption" have now been found steeped in corruption.

The Union Youth Affairs and Sports Minister arrived here to attend a couple of events.

AAP's Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh was on Wednesday arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in New Delhi in connection with its money laundering probe linked to the 2021-22 Delhi Excise policy case.

Asked about Mr Kejriwal's allegations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi after Singh's arrest, Mr Thakur said, "People are laughing at Arvind Kejriwal ji and tension can be seen on his face. They are those people who came by raising the slogan of 'India against corruption' and are now found steeped in corruption".

In Punjab, it (AAP) got elected to power and within two months, the state health minister had to resign due to corruption, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said.

"Kejriwal ji has no answer to the liquor scam that has brought shame to him. So far, the deputy chief minister (of Delhi) and others have gone to jail, but the kingpin is still out. The probe is underway and the turn of the kingpin will also come," Mr Thakur said.

The persons to whom Mr Kejriwal had distributed "certificates of honesty" are in jail since the last one year. Who gave him the right to distribute the certificates, he asked.

"Agli kiski baari hai, ye media ke headline banne ki tayyari hai (whose turn is next is going to be the media's headline)," he added.

Mr Thakur also targeted the Congress governments in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, where the assembly elections are due later this year.

"Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh are the two states where officers close to the chief minister faced serious allegations of corruption and crores of rupees and gold were recovered from them. They (Chief Ministers) should have been resigned. But they haven't stepped down yet. Now people will oust them (in the upcoming assembly elections)," he said.

Asked about the caste survey done by the Bihar government, Mr Thakur mentioned that PM Modi has said his government is for the poor, down- trodden and those exploited.

"The biggest community is of the poor and we have to bring them out of poverty. In the last nine years of Modi ji's government, 18.5 crore people in the country have been pulled out of below poverty line," he said.

Statistics show how much works have been done for welfare of the poor in the country. When the Congress and its allies did not have an answer to it, they resorted to the caste issue, he claimed.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)