Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejirwal (File).
New Delhi:
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal – in Tihar Jail on corruption charges – will be allowed to meet his Punjab counterpart, Bhagwant Mann, at noon on April 15, officials told NDTV Friday afternoon.
Earlier today senior officials from Tihar and police from Delhi and Punjab sat down together to work out a viable security arrangement to allow the two opposition politicians to meet.
On Wednesday they had been denied a meeting amid concerns about security.
After he was sent to jail, the Delhi Chief Minister had given a list of six persons (including his wife Sunita Kejriwal and his two children) to be cleared for visits. Bhagwant Mann was not on that list.
Mr Kejriwal was arrested March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the alleged liquor policy scam, which has roiled the Aam Aadmi Party weeks before the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
On April 1, the AAP boss was sent to judicial custody for two weeks; the ED said it would not seek more custody, but noted he was “uncooperative” and “evasive” while answering questions.
READ | Kejriwal Jailed After Probe Agency Claims He’s “Uncooperative”
Mr Kejriwal was sent to Tihar’s Jail No 2 (with former deputy Manish Sisodia, also an accused in this case, for company). The Chief Minister, a diabetic patient, suffered a health scare after being transferred to jail, but his medical condition has since stabilised. Given his illness, Mr Kejriwal has been allowed home-cooked food and bottled drinking water, as well as special bed linen and pillows.
READ | AAP Says Kejriwal Unwell, Lost 4.5 Kg In Jail, Officials Disagree
The ED believes Mr Kejriwal was directly involved in the formation of the now-scrapped liquor policy, which allegedly generated Rs 600 crore in kickbacks that helped the AAP fund poll campaigns.
The probe agency – accused by the opposition of working at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party – has told courts it believes Mr Kejriwal was the “kingpin”.
Mr Kejriwal, who has vehemently denied the corruption charges, alleging a conspiracy to cripple the AAP before the election – has been staunchly defended by his colleagues, including Bhagwant Mann.
Back in March, when an ED team reached Mr Kejriwal’s Delhi home to arrest him, the Punjab leader declared “the BJP’s political team (referring to the ED) cannot imprison Arvind Kejriwal’s thinking”.
In a post on on X, Mr Mann said (in Hindi), “BJP ki rajnitik team ED Kejriwal ki soch ko qaid nahi kar sakti, kyunki AAP hee BJP ko rok sakti hai. Soch ko kabhi bhi dabaya nahi ja sakta. (The BJP’s political team – ED – cannot imprison Kejriwal’s thinking because only AAP can stop the BJP…”).
Mr Mann had earlier also said he would seek court permission to set up an office for Arvind Kejriwal from jail so he can continue running the government in the national capital.
READ | Will Seek Court Nod To Set Up Jail Office For Kejriwal: Mann
“It is not written anywhere that a government cannot run from jail…” the Punjab leader declared amid back-and-forth between the AAP and the BJP on that question.
The BJP had, and continues to insist, that Mr Kejriwal should not be allowed to remain Chief Minister, much less run the government, given that he is in jail. The AAP, meanwhile, has pointed to the fact Mr Kejriwal has not been convicted of any crime and is therefore not guilty, and not obliged to stand down.
Mr Kejriwal has already passed two ‘orders’ – one to Public Works Department Minister Atishi and the other to Health Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj. Both have been furiously contested by the BJP.
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