Following the release of another video showing Delhi minister Satyendar Jain receiving “packaged food” inside the Tihar jail, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) repeated its call for Jain to be fired on Wednesday.
Last week, a video of Jain receiving a massage from a man inside his cell went viral on social media, leading to claims that he was receiving preferential treatment while incarcerated. Due to allegations of money laundering, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader has been in judicial custody for the past five months. The AAP stood up for Jain, calling the video a “BJP stunt,” and deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said Jain was hurt and receiving medical attention in jail. Prison officials, however, claimed on Tuesday that the man who was seen in the videos massaging the Jain people was really an inmate who had been charged with raping a child rather than a physiotherapist.
The BJP on Wednesday displayed the brand-new video of Jain receiving “packaged food” at a press conference in New Delhi. The AAP did not immediately respond to the new video.
“First Jain is not removed as a minister despite being in jail, now there are people working for him and all facilities are being provided…. . We don’t know how the system is operating, but they have arranged a luxury resort-like facility inside the jail. The television is operational, he is getting packed food, someone is massaging the legs, as if they are in a holiday resort and not in a jail. We want people to see that the AAP, which is busy giving character certificates to others, is itself engaging in characterless actions,” Union minister Meenakshi Lekhi said in the press conference.
Describing it as a “shameless conduct” of the AAP, the New Delhi member of Parliament (MP) said, “A person, who has been caught and is in jail for certain acts of corruption and against whom an investigation is going on, is getting a massage on feet by an accused who is involved in a crime like rape of a minor. In spite of being involved in so many cases, this person continues to be a minister in the AAP’s Delhi government.”
“They (AAP) are involved in so many corruption cases. (Chief minister) Arvind Kejriwal doesn’t care about Delhi. For them, this place is just to earn money to fund their political ambitions,” Lekhi added.