Launching a scathing attack on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) amid the row over videos from the prison cell of Delhi minister Satyendar Jain, the BJP today said AAP leader Manish Sisodia must read the jail manual, as "you never know who enjoys the hospitality next".
The BJP released a new video from the Tihar Jail cell of Mr Jain, who is facing trial in a money laundering case. The video shows the AAP leader eating salad, fruit and food. The AAP is yet to respond to the new video.
The clip was released a day after the minister complained in court about inadequate food and a 28-kg weight loss. The footage, capturing three days in September and October, "categorically negates" the minister's claims, sources in the prison said. The minister had not lost 28 kg, but had in fact "gained 8 kg" in jail, the sources claimed.
The new clip has provided the BJP ammunition in the run-up to the Delhi civic polls and amid its ongoing war of words with the AAP over an earlier video in which the jailed minister was seen receiving a massage. The AAP has trashed BJP's allegations of special facilities for the minister in jail and has said he had been receiving physiotherapy for back pain.
Targeting the AAP, Union Minister and senior BJP leader Meenakshi Lekhi said, "Their sins have turned Yamuna dirty, whether it is the liquor scam or (irregularities in) in schools." Slamming AAP supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, she said, "Their (AAP) leader does not care about Delhi. He only treats it as a source of money to fund his prime ministerial ambitions."
"When you are in public life, there should be some restraint and decency in your conduct. These people do not have them, and the biggest example of this is the conduct of Satyendar Jain in jail. These are people who give a bad name to politicians," she said.
The BJP leader said she was disgusted that the minister was getting a massage from the man accused of raping a minor.
"These are people who say something and do completely the opposite. The supremo of the party, Mr Kejriwal, is busy giving certificates to himself, how honest and how correct they are. The ground reality is completely different. These are people who are getting involved in acts of corruption, then misusing facilities inside the jail, we don't know how the system is operating that they arrange luxury facilities inside the jail," she said.
Tihar Jail comes under the Delhi government's Department of Prisons.
Pointing to the massage video, she asked, "Do you get staff inside the prison? This looks as if he got a domestic staff."
In a swipe at Mr Sisodia, Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister and the face of the AAP campaign for the civic polls, Ms Lekhi said, "I think Sisodia ji should properly read the jail manual. We don't know who will enjoy the hospitality next." The remark comes against the backdrop of the AAP repeatedly claiming that Mr Sisodia will be arrested in the Delhi liquor policy case. Mr Sisodia is the prime accused in the case, and central agencies have searched his home and questioned him. The AAP has alleged that the BJP has cooked up a false case and is misusing the agencies for political goals.
Mr Sisodia had earlier termed the BJP "shameless" for making a spectacle of an ailing man getting treatment. He had said Mr Jain was advised physiotherapy after he underwent two spinal surgeries.
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