NEW DELHI: Two days after his arrest in an alleged excise policy scam, Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia on Tuesday resigned from the council of ministers. Former health minister Satyendar Jain, who was arrested in May last year in an alleged money laundering case, also submitted his resignation to CM Arvind Kejriwal, bringing the strength of the Delhi cabinet to five.Delhi government officials said Kejriwal accepted both the resignations and sent them to lieutenant governor V K Saxena to be forwarded to the President. The AAP said two new faces would soon be inducted into the cabinet but didn’t give any timeframe. For the interim, their portfolios have been distributed between Kailash Gahlot and Raaj Kumar Anand.”The size of the Delhi cabinet is quite small and the two senior ministers held the majority of important portfolios. To ensure that the work is not impeded in their absence and the citizens of Delhi are not inconvenienced, Jain and Sisodia tendered their resignations. Two new ministers will soon be inducted in the council of ministers,” AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said at a press conference.Sisodia’s and Jain’s resignations came soon after the Supreme Court refused to grant relief to the former and asked him to approach the Delhi high court. In a three-page letter to the chief minister, Sisodia said the allegations against him were nothing but a “conspiracy of cowards and weak people” and he wished to stay away till the “charges are proven wrong”.Jain was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on May 30 last year and lodged in Tihar Jail since then. Sisodia was called for investigation into alleged corruption in the the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 for the second time on February 26 and was arrested. Delhi govt gears up for some forced changes Though the government is yet to announce the names of new ministers, sources said AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj, who is a three-time MLA and currently holding the post of vice chairman of Delhi Jal Board, Kalkaji MLA Atishi, who has worked closely with Manish Sisodia, Timarpur MLA Dilip Pandey and Burari MLA Sanjeev Jha are among the front-runners.Following Satyendar Jain’s arrest in May last year, instead of replacing him with a new face in the council of ministers, Kejriwal had handed over his seven departments, including health, home and industries, to his deputy and close confidant Sisodia, who was already handling 11 portfolios. Sisodia was till now handling 18 of the 33 departments, including finance, planning, education, health, power tourism and public works.Sources said the government had initially planned to continue with just five ministers, including Kejriwal, and divide 18 portfolios between transport minister Kailash Gahlot and social welfare minister Raaj Kumar Anand, but decided against overburdening the two.Late at night, government officials said that till the time the new ministers were appointed, Gahlot would take additional responsibility of finance, planning, Public Works Department, power, home, urban development, irrigation & flood control and water. Anand, apart from his existing departments, will handle education, land & building, vigilance, services, tourism, art culture & language, labour, employment, health and industries.Talking to reporters, Bharadwaj said the Centre was “targeting” the state government for “working relentlessly for development” of the city.”It is very unfortunate for the entire country that leaders who were known and popular for their work have been trapped. The Centre is targeting state governments which work hard and relentlessly for development,” he said.Timarpur MLA Dilip Pandey said Sisodia, who was the “world’s most popular education minister”, and Jain, who gave the concept of mohalla clinics, had become victims of BJP’s politics of arrogance.”Sisodia and Jain have made significant contributions to Kejriwal’s model of governance, which has made all Indians proud,” Pandey said.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/senior-aap-ministers-manish-sisodia-satyendar-jain-quit-2-newcomers-to-be-inducted-in-delhi-cabinet/articleshow/98318915.cms