Former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, granted bail by the Supreme Court on Friday in corruption and money laundering cases linked to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy, is likely to be inducted into the Arvind Kejriwal cabinet soon, people in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said.
A Delhi government official said that Sisodia’s inclusion in the council of ministers will be “easy” and will not cause a major reshuffle, as one berth in the cabinet is already vacant following former AAP minister Raaj Kumar Anand’s resignation in April this year.
Delhi can have a maximum of seven ministers, including the chief minister. According to Article 239AA of the Constitution, the size of the Delhi Cabinet cannot exceed 10% of the number of members in the legislative assembly. The Delhi Assembly has 70 members.
According to AAP leaders, who asked not to be identified, the plan to induct Sisodia, who was released after over 17 months of incarceration, is likely to be finalised in consultation with CM Kejriwal, who is in jail over separate cases lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) as part of their probes into the alleged irregularities in the liquor policy. This is why a decision on when the meeting would be held and how the induction would take place is yet to be taken, they said.
Sisodia, a sitting MLA from Patparganj constituency in East Delhi, was arrested by CBI on February 26, 2023. Two days later, he resigned from the cabinet in which he handled 18 key portfolios, including excise, finance, PWD, education, and health. Besides Sisodia, former minister Satyendar Jain also resigned following which Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj were inducted in the cabinet and most of the key portfolios were distributed among them.
“It is likely that Manish Sisodia will be inducted into Arvind Kejriwal government but when will the induction take place and how it will take place are yet to be decided,” said one of the AAP leaders cited above.
On the possibility of Sisodia’s induction, AAP’s Sanjay Singh said, “Let him come out of jail, we will discuss the matter and decide.” Health minister Bharadwaj, however, told reporters that Sisodia will join the Cabinet.
For the embattled AAP government, Sisodia’s return to the cabinet may bring some relief ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in Haryana and Delhi.
Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva said,“As the CM himself is in jail, how will he expand the cabinet? And if Sisodia becomes a minister then what a scene it would be to see a minister going to report to his local police SHO twice a week.”
Article source: hindustantimes.com
