After spending almost 900 days in detention, the former health minister of Delhi, Satyendar Jain, the first senior leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to be arrested by the central investigation agencies and the last among them to come out, started his day on Saturday with a morning walk. in his Shakur Basti Council area in North West Delhi.
Jain, who was booked by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on corruption charges in 2017, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on charges of money laundering through several firms allegedly linked to him and his family members – charges dismissed as “baseless” by the AAP – in May 2022. .Friday, Jain he came out of Tihar Jail hours later a Delhi court granted him bail.
One of the most prominent AAP ministers in Delhi in the then seven-member Cabinet of Arvind Kejriwal before his arrest – he held the portfolios of health, power, home, public works and urban development among others – Jain’s release, AAP insiders said. as a shot in the arm ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections due early next year, but what it means politically for Jain himself is not yet clear.
“Delhi hospitals were getting 18,000 more beds, there is no country in the world where the expansion of government hospitals has been done to such a degree. If this had been achieved, (the BJP) would have been brought before the people. That is why Satyendar Jain was arrested, so that the work that was done for the people could not be done,” said Jain on Saturday.
Delhi’s former deputy CM Manish Sisodia welcomed AAP leader Satyendar Jain after the duo’s release from Tihar jail. (Photo: Manish Sisodia/ X)
After Manish Sisodia’s arrest in February last year, both he and Jain resigned from their posts in the Delhi Cabinet. Their individual portfolios were then distributed between Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj, who were then sworn in as ministers.
“Given how close the Assembly elections are, Jain’s return to the Cabinet seems unlikely. On the other hand, given his health and his long imprisonment of almost two years, the party wants to give him time to settle down, think and choose his future course,” said an AAP insider.
Although he could not be part of the group of senior AAP leaders who will welcome Jain outside the Tihar jail on Friday evening as he attended his daughter Harshita’s wedding, AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal addressed an important meeting of the organization at Jain’s place. Pitampura on Saturday evening.
“Arvind ji met him (Jain) with great warmth at the (engagement) ceremony on Friday evening and spoke to AAP MLAs, councilors and all office bearers of the organization in one of the most important election-related meetings in Delhi’s Jain constituency on Saturday,” the insider added.
A man of few words who often stayed in the background, Jain was not considered a party man, but he was considered a no-nonsense and strict minister. His arrest, unrelated to the Delhi tax policy case, was followed by former Delhi Deputy CM Sisodia, AAP Rajya Sabha Member Sanjay Singh and finally CM Kejriwal himself.
After serving separate terms in prison, Singh, Sisodia and Kejriwal were released within months of each other; the only AAP leader in judicial custody is Okhla MP Amanatullah Khan, who was arrested by the ED in connection with a money laundering case related to alleged illegal employment in the Delhi Waqf board.
“His (Jain’s) track record as a legislator could be a problem in terms of his chances of contesting the Delhi Assembly elections,” a party source said. “He never spent a single rupee from his MLALAD money… Some AAP leaders like Arvind ji and Manish ji also went to jail but that did not stop them from working and issuing orders for the development of their constituencies while incarcerated,” said the source.
“Maybe he didn’t do that because he doesn’t agree with him running again in Shakur Basti – maybe he wants to be elected in another district, maybe not at all,” said the source.