BJP dubs Delhi minister sacking as 'well-scripted story'

The Delhi unit of the BJP on Saturday said that the sacking of Delhi food minister Asim Khan was part of a well-scripted story to tell people how the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is different from others.

"The sacking is a well-thought out move of the Delhi Government to camouflage its seven-month-long failure to perform that has left Delhi 10 years behind (in terms of development)," said Satish Upadhyay, the president of the Delhi unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at a press conference here.

"The fact is that the Arvind Kejriwal Government is corrupt. Had the government been honest, it would have sacked all those leaders against whom FIRs were registered. Why didn't the AAP sack them from the party," asked Upadhyay.

"We seek to know from Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal that how come character certificates issued by him to his leaders before the Delhi assembly polls became invalid in just seven months. Kejriwal had claimed before the polls that the AAP had set up a screening committee to scrutinise the character of candidates seeking tickets, what happened to that claim, asked Upadhyay, claiming that 50 percent of the Kejriwal Cabinet was "corrupt"," he said.

Stating that reports in newspapers suggest that the AAP was receiving no donations due to its style of functioning, the BJP leader raised doubts whether corrupt practises adopted by AAP leaders was a part of this exercise.

He demanded that unedited version of one-hour audio tape should be released in public domain for clarity.

Kejriwal had on Friday announced at a press conference that his government had sacked Food and Civil Supplies and Environment Minister Asim Ahmed Khan over corruption charges against him.