Former colleagues of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal accuse him of indulging in theatrics

NEW DELHI: Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal cried foul over a CBI raid against his principal secretary on Tuesday, alleging that it was the Centre's way of getting at him, but his former colleagues accused him of indulging in theatrics.

Yogendra Yadav, who, along with Prashant Bhushan, Anand Kumar and Ajit Jha, was expelled from the party earlier this year, said that while the BJP government in the Centre was guilty of vendetta, the AAP government was guilty of drama. "Can they please spare the people and focus on governance," Yadav said.

Bhushan was more unforgiving in his critique, saying that Kejriwal was screaming vendetta only because his "trusted" man had been raided by the CBI and because he wasn't warned about it. Bhushan also put out proof that there were allegations against principal secretary Rajender Kumar even in 2013 but the CM did not react to them. "Apart from a complaint made by Transparency International, there are number other complaints made to Kejriwal against his PS, including one by a volunteer in December 2013. Kejriwal should have investigated before appointment," Bhushan said in a series of tweets.

Kumar, who is heading Swaraj Abhiyan, was also critical of the government's defence of Kumar. "Law is catching up with arrogance of power. First the CM found it necessary to hand over a complaint of corruption against a cabinet minister. Now it has become necessary to investigate the top bureaucrat of the Delhi government. It is sad to see the anti-climax of the AAP government so soon. It is never wise to flirt with the corrupt and corruption," said Kumar.