AAP hits out at LG amid row over allotment of Sisodia's govt residence

Amid the controversy over the alleged leak of the allotment of the official residence of former minister Manish Sisodia to Delhi Education minister Atishi, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party on Friday hit out at Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena saying that he has an obsessive publicity disorder and has no work other than to spew malice against the AAP.

"He is insulting the dignity of a constitutional office by leaking news to the media like this. It is ironic that a person, who the whole country saw in a viral clip assaulting a woman activist like a street thug, is leaking privileged information to the media," the AAP said in a statement, launching a scathing attack on the L-G.

The AAP claimed that law and convention mandate that a minister, on resigning from his or her office, is bound to vacate his official residence.

"As far as the order regarding the former Deputy CM's residence is concerned, there is a law which says that a minister, on resigning his or her office, has to vacate his official or government residence within 15 days," the AAP said.

Further, according to the ruling party in the national capital, led by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the order to this effect was issued in compliance with the law.

"The Aam Aadmi Party unequivocally reaffirms that not only CM Arvind Kejriwal but the whole country stands behind Manish Sisodia. The whole country is in awe of his work in education, the party said in its statement.

Further, invoking the arrest of Sisodia in connection with the Delhi liquor policy case, which it called "unjustified", the party stated, "The AAP has been running a signature campaign across Delhi and the country and we have seen that everyone feels that Manish Sisodia's arrest is unjustified."

Earlier, on March 9, in a move necessitated by the resignation of arrested ministers Sisodia and Satyendar Jain in the liquor policy and money laundering cases respectively, AAP MLAs Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj were sworn in as ministers in the Delhi cabinet.

Sisodia was arrested by the CBI in the liquor policy case on February 26 and was sent to 14-day judicial custody on March 6.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) later summoned Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao's daughter, K Kavitha, for questioning in connection with the Delhi liquor policy case.

Sisodia was arrested in the case related to alleged irregularities in the framing and implementation of the excise policy of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD).

Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court recently sent him to judicial custody till March 20.

Atishi was allotted Education, PWD, Power and Tourism portfolios after being sworn in as a minister while Bharadwaj was entrusted with Health, Water and Industries and Urban Development. They were administered the oath of office by L-G Saxena.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)