Centre acted against ACB fearing action against Min: CM

The Narendra Modi government acted against Delhi’s Anti Corruption Branch (ACB) because it feared action against a Central minister, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Friday. Kejriwal added that he would be happy if rebel leaders Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan returned to the party.

Kejriwal claimed that the Central government had changed the ACB’s leadership overnight as the BJP feared the anti-graft body was going to act against a minister in the Modi government. “The BJP feared that the ACB was trying to frame a Cabinet minister. The Centre’s move was aimed at pre-empting our move,” Kejriwal said. However, he didn’t identify the minister.

The Kejriwal government has been locked in a bitter row with LG Najeeb Jung over the ACB’s control. Kejriwal insisted that Jung was fronting for the Modi government and the BJP. “Modi is using Jung so that Kejriwal is not able to work...Modi is controlling the Delhi government’s home department by sending Delhi Police personnel there,” he said.

The CM added: “LK Advani was right in invoking fears of another Emergency. Why else does Modi say that he will decide every post (in Delhi) from (that of) the peon to the Chief Secretary? Is this right?”

According to Kejriwal, Jung himself was positive about the work being done by the ACB, after AAP took power in February, but everything changed suddenly on June 8. Last month, Jung replaced Delhi government appointee SS Yadav with MK Meena – both from the Delhi Police – as the ACB chief. The AAP government dubbed Meena’s appointment illegal and drastically pruned his powers. The tug of war now awaits a judicial verdict. “If it happens, it will be very good,” he said, adding that “Their return will be good for the party.” 

He denied that his allegedly dictatorial attitude was coming in the way of their return to the AAP. Both Yadav and Bhushan were removed from AAP in April for alleged anti-party activities, following a war of words between the founding members of the party and Kejriwal backers.