Jain on MHA's sanction to CBI: Charges are 'laughable and beyond comprehension'

NEW DELHI: A day after the Centre allowed the CBI to prosecute him, Delhi Urban Development Minister Satyendar Jain on Friday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi wanted to raze down unauthorized colonies and render people homeless. "Being the Urban Development Minister of Delhi, I am under oath to get the unauthorized colonies authorized. It's my duty to provide the residents with basic facilities... It is the democratic right of the people staying in these colonies," Jain said in a statement.

The Union Home Ministry on Thursday granted sanction to prosecute Jain for having assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

Calling it a vindictive action of the Modi government, Jain said he was amazed by the charges made against him. "I am amazed at the charges made by the Centre; they are saying Satyendar Jain will become richer by regularizing these colonies. This is laughable and beyond comprehension. How will I become richer by regularizing the unauthorized colonies? Regularization of the unauthorized colonies will not benefit Satyendar Jain but will benefit the huge number of people residing in these colonies," he said.

Jain, who holds seven portfolios including those of Health, Home and Public Works Department, said the Modi government can file as many cases as it wanted against him but "I won't be cowed down and I will keep working in the same manner. The people of Delhi have elected me. I will continue working for them with full integrity till my last breath and no amount of witch hunt will deter my resolve," he said.

The AAP's East Delhi Lok Sabha in-charge Atishi said that the Centre's move against Jain showed that the Modi government was completely against regularizing unauthorized colonies. "In a highly dubious and politically motivated move, the Ministry of Home Affairs has given its sanction to the CBI to prosecute Satyendra Jain, the Urban Development Minister of the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi," said Atishi.

"The weakest link in this allegation is that there is no evidence that the benami land mentioned by the CBI even belongs to Mr Jain. The Prime Minister spends half the time abroad and talks about turning India into Singapore. But he doesn't want to do that by developing these unauthorized colonies. Instead, he wants to destroy them," Atishi told the media here.

She further said the Delhi government's Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corp (DSIIDC) had already spent Rs 575 crore on 164 projects in unauthorised colonies.