India Against Corruption activist and former IRS Officer Arvind Kejriwal would launch his political party on Monday, November 26.
Replying to queries on the Aap Ki Adalat TV show, Kejriwal invited people to join his party in large numbers.
“Presently our experts are working on 30 different subjects to prepare a framework for the proposed political party. We will invite people’s views on the draft framework soon,” he said.
Kejriwal was noncommittal about contesting the forthcoming elections in Delhi, an India TV statement Friday said.
His first reaction was “I won’t contest”. He then corrected himself saying: “I don’t know whether I will contest or not. My party will contest the elections.”
When Rajat Sharma asked him why he did not take his allegations to a logical conclusion, Kejriwal replied: “Neither am I the director of CBI, nor the chief justice, nor the prime minister, how can I investigate?
“The courts do not investigate, the courts hear cases, it’s the CBI which investigates, and the CBI acts under the government’s directions.
“Even (my colleague) Prashant Bhushan who used to approach the courts has stopped doing that.”
The anti-corruption activist said that although it had existed for 50 years, the CBI had managed to send only three big politicians to prison — Narbahadur Bhandari, Sukh Ram and Bangaru Laxman.
“It’s not that the CBI doesn’t have competent officers but they are not allowed to work due to political interference. Has anybody the courage to order the CBI to probe Robert Vadra?” Kejriwal asked.
Asked about the probes done into scams under the court’s supervision, Kejriwal said: “Suresh Kalmadi was sent to jail, and he soon came out on bail, because the CBI did not oppose his bail application. Then what can the judge do?”
Kejriwal said he was ready to face defamation cases if his disclosures about offshore accounts in HSBC Geneva branch were found to be false.
Kejriwal also took up cudgels on behalf of NSG commandos, saying some of those who fought Pakistani terrorists in Mumbai were now without work and denied compensation.
“Ajmal Kasab was hanged on Wednesday but those NSG commandos who fought these terrorists are still fighting for their rights,” Kejriwal said.
Kejriwal claimed that some of the commandos were sacked without pension and some were denied medical benefits. A few former NSG commandos were at the press conference.
“Some were thrown out of their job with no pension, and they foot their own medical bills. No honors for them,” Kejriwal said.
He said the government was misleading the nation about the compensation offered to NSG guards injured in action.
“A total of Rs.31 lakh was given to the 11 injured. Of this, Surinder Singh got just 2.5 lakh,” Kejriwal said.
Surinder Singh, a former commando who was at the press conference, said: “The donation came from Govind Ballabh Trust. Rs.2.5 lakh was to be disbursed to each commando. They (army) only forwarded the names of four commandos for the compensation.
“When I asked why I was not included, they told me that only those who sustained severe injuries were eligible. I was not only severely injured, I also lost my job.
“They later gave me the real reason. The donation money had been transferred to the union home ministry,” Surinder Singh said.
He said the authorities could not produce any document that prescribed the criteria for fund disbursement.
“I got Rs.1 lakh from the Pradhan Mantri Rahat Kosh,” he said.