A war of words has erupted between the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) after Conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar wrote to Delhi Lieutenant Governor (LG) from Tihar jail, alleging that he was forced to pay Rs 10 crore protection money to AAP leader Satyendar Jain earlier when he held the portfolio of Jail.
The letter, written by Chandrashekhar, who is being held in Mandoli jail in Delhi, was sent to LG VK Saxena on October 8 by his lawyer, Ashok K Singh.
Addressing a press conference in Delhi, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra alleged the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) did a thuggery with a thug. The AAP is a "maha thug" party, he alleged.
"According to the news, there has been thuggery in the thug's residence. Sukesh Chandrashekhar is the name of the thug. Satyendra Jain, the leader of the Aam Aadmi Party, cheated the thug ," Patra said.
He further claimed that the AAP had extorted money from the conman, demonstrating that the party was "hardcore corrupt."
"Kejriwal ji and the people of his party know only one posture named 'Bhrashtasana' and they do not know any posture," the BJP spokesperson tweeted in Hindi.
Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP leader, dismissed the charges, saying they were a ploy to divert attention away from the Morbi bridge collapse tragedy in Gujarat.
A suspension bridge in Gujarat's Morbi area collapsed on Sunday, killing more than 140 people, making it one of the worst disasters in recent times.
"The condition of BJP in Gujarat has become so bad that it has to take help of the biggest thug of the country. Media beware - all this drama is being done to divert media attention from Morbi," the CM tweeted in Hindi.
The Delhi Chief Minister further demanded Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel's resignation, he stated that "the state administration has no right to continue in office and that Gujarat assembly elections be held soon."
Talking about the upcoming assembly elections in Gujarat, the CM said, "BJP is in such a bad condition in Gujarat that PM Modi ji is needing the support of a conman like Sukesh Chandrashekhar."
"They have brought to suppress the accident, today Morbi suddenly disappeared from TV Before the Punjab elections, Kumar had brought Vishwas, you saw what happened," Kejriwal said.
In-charge of BJP's National Information & Technology Dept, Amit Malviya in a tweet wrote, "AAP and it’s jailed Jail Minister Satyendra Jain conned conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar, extracted 10 crore as protection (in Tihar) money and 50 crore for an influential party position in South India. AAP leaders are extortionists. Satyendra is still a minister in Kejriwal’s Govt…"
On Tuesday, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia alleged that the 150 people killed in the Morbi Bridge collapse, died as a result of the BJP's corruption.
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"The facts that are coming out for two days, it has become clear that this is not an accident. These are the killings which have happened because of BJP's corruption," sisodia stated in a press briefing today.
According to his advocate, Chandrashekhar has written to Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena stating that Jain "extorted" Rs 10 crore from him in 2019 to assure his safety in prison, news agency ANI reported.
Chandrashekhar was arrested on suspicion of scamming and extorting several high-profile people, including Aditi Singh, the wife of former Fortis Healthcare promoter Shivinder Mohan Singh.