‘Jail minister in jail, transfer him’: Meenakshi Lekhi after conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar's 'letter'

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday intensified its attack on Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and demanded the transfer of jailed minister Satyendar Jain from Tihar jail to another prison after conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar alleged that he was forced to bring “over 20 people to contribute ₹500 crore towards his party”.

The Delhi government and the lieutenant governor of Delhi should transfer Satyendar Jain to another jail. How can he continue to remain as the jail minister despite being in jail? He is influential and extorts money from inside the jail," BJP leader and Union minister Meenakshi Lekhi at a press conference in New Delhi.

Lekhi also asked the Kejriwal government to explain why the AAP took ₹50 crore from “maha thug Sukesh Chandrashekhar”.

Last month, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had alleged that Jain was being given VIP treatment inside the Tihar jail. The probe agency has alleged that Jain was getting massages and is also regularly meeting the co-accused in the case.

In a fresh 'letter' addressed to the media, Chandrashekhar claimed that he gave more than ₹50 crore to the AAP, which promised to nominate him to the Rajya Sabha. The AAP has dismissed his charges.

The BJP has dubbed Kejriwal a "maha thug" and demanded his resignation.

Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters on Saturday, spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said,"This letter exposes Arvind Kejriwal as a maha (great) thug who conned (the) conman and has cheated his every friend."

With the help of Chandrashekhar, “Kejriwal wanted to develop thuggery into an industry, to raise money for himself and his party and he is running a Kejriwal thuggery centre,” Bhatia alleged.

Party spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala asked Kejriwal if he had met the conman "at the farmhouse of his minister Kailash Gahlot" and sought to know what discussions were held.

Poonawala also demanded that Kejriwal sack Jain, who is currently in jail in connection with a money laundering case, and Gahlot from his Cabinet.

In a letter to lieutenant governor VK Saxena, Chandrashekhar had alleged that Jain extorted ₹10 crore in 2019 for his "safety" in prison.

Chandrashekhar claimed that he submitted another complaint to Saxena on Thursday detailing the allegations of corruption against Kejriwal, Gahlot and Jain.

Senior AAP leader Atishi, however, fired back at the BJP. After the failures of the Enforcement Directorate, CBI, Income-Tax, L-G and Delhi Police, the BJP has turned to the country's "biggest conman" for help against the AAP, she alleged.