Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain resign

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's trusted lieutenants Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, both behind bars on corruption charges, resigned from the Cabinet on Tuesday. Kejriwal has accepted the resignations of the two leaders, who played a pivotal role in implementing his governance agenda of good education and health facilities in the national capital, according to officials. The opposition BJP had been demanding the resignation of Jain after his arrest in May last year by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case.

Sisodia too faced the heat after his name cropped up in the excise policy scam in August 2022. He was arrested by the CBI on Sunday evening in connection with the alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped liquor policy for 2021-22.

"I am stepping away till the charges against me are proven false," Sisodia wrote in his resignation letter, sent shortly after the Supreme Court refused to entertain his petition challenging his arrest and urged him to approach a lower court first. "There are likely to be more cases against me... God knows these allegations are false."

Official sources said Sisodia's portfolios would be allotted to Revenue Minister Kailash Gahlot and Social Welfare Minister Raj Kumar Anand. Sisodia, who was the deputy chief minister, was holding the charge of 18 out of 33 departments of the Delhi government, including health, finance, education and home. Even after his arrest, Jain continued to be a minister in the government but without any portfolio. His portfolios, including health, home and urban development, had been handed over to Sisodia.