Opposition parties rallied behind Aam Aadmi Party chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday with regard to the alleged CBI raid on his office at the Delhi Secretariat.
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Both Houses of Parliament witnessed protests by the Opposition members over the CBI raid this morning.
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Finance Minister Arun Jaitley rejected the charge, saying the raid had nothing to do with Kejriwal. Kejriwal, he said, was lying and this was an attack on the federal structure.
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"Not that CBI doesn't have authority, but there is a way to conduct raids. It should be conducted in such a way so that the relation is not strained," Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi told media here.
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"For such a thing to happen in Delhi goes against the spirit of federalism. This is something very uncalled for and definitely needs to be condemned," Congress leader Kamal Nath told reporters outside Parliament House
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Communist Party of India (CPI) leader D. Raja said, "The BJP-led Union Government and Mr. Modi should acknowledge that there is an elected government and a CM in Delhi; I think the Union Government is still finding it difficult to acknowledge that reality and act accordingly. The government can come up with any number of statements and explanations, but the timing and the circumstances indicates an element of political vendetta. It is undermining the federal principles of our governance."
Kejriwal had earlier claimed that the CBI had raided his office at the behest of Prime Minister Modi. He also went as far as to call the Prime Minister a 'coward and a psychopath'.
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"CBI lying. My own office raided. Files of CM office are being looked into. Let Modi say which file he wants?" Kejriwal tweeted.
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"I am the only CM who dismissed, on my own, a minister n a senior officer on charges of corruption and handed their cases to CBI. If CBI had any evidence against Rajender, why didn't they share it wid me? I wud hv acted against him," he said in another tweet.
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The CBI has registered a case against Kejriwal's Principal Secretary Rajender Kumar for allegedly favouring a firm in getting contracts from Delhi government.
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"FM lied in Parliament. My own office files are being looked into to get some evidence against me. Rajender is an excuse," tweeted Kejriwal.
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Refuting Kejriwal's allegation on the raid on Chief Minister's office, the CBI said the raid was conducted on the Principal Secretary's office following a warrant.