Union Minister & BJP leader Anurag Thakur recently broke his silence on Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's demand for ED to investigate Sarath Reddy paying Rs 55 crore to BJP via electoral bonds. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday himself told the court that while the ED is yet to find the money trail, Sarath Reddy donated Rs 55 crore to the BJP in terms of Electoral Bonds. Kejriwal highlighted these facts in the court seeking an investigation into the matter. Notably, Sarath Reddy is among the four approvers of the ED on whose statement the central agency has arrested the Delhi CM. Now, Union I&B Minister Anurag Thakur broke silence during a summit of a news portal and said-
"First of all ED will tell about the money trail in the court. But, I would like to say that he is the same Arvind Kejriwal who gave a clean chit to Satyendra Jain, Manish Sisodia, and Sanjay Singh. He used to say that during the times of Holi, my friends are in jail. This Holi, god fulfilled his wish and reunited Arvind Kejriwal with his friends. The one who used to talk about ethics and relinquishing power, today he is not ready to leave the CM post."
"Now, coming to Sarath Reddy and Electoral Bonds. Industrialists and businesspersons used to donate money to political parties earlier, but they used to donate it in cash. But it was the BJP who made political donations transparent through the Electoral Bond. If our motive would have been wrong then why we would have brought the Electoral Bonds concept? Our strength in Parliament is 303 and we have a government in at least 18 states, therefore we have Rs 6000 crore in Electoral Bonds. But, Mamta Banerjee runs the government in only one state and her party has got Rs 1600 crore in electoral bond," added Anurag Singh Thakur.
Anurag further said, "Sarath Chandra Reddy did not pay money through backdoors to the BJP. He donated the money through Electoral Bond." On being asked how money given to Kejriwal is dubious and not to the BJP, Thakur said, "I will only ask one thing. Is Reddy has given money to Arvind Kejriwal in the form of electoral bonds?"
What did Arvind Kejriwal say about Sarath Reddy?
Delhi CM Kejriwal in the Rouse Avenue Court said, "Sarath Reddy ke case me, usko bail do wajah se mili. Ek- Sarath Reddy ne mere khilaaf statement diya. Aur do- Sarath Reddy ne arrest hone ke bad 55 crore ka chanda BJP ko diya. He bought his bail. Money trail is clearly established. BJP ke account me sidhe gaya. Money trail is established,” (Sarath Reddy got bail under two conditions. One is he gave statement against me and the second he donated Rs 55 crore to the BJP via electoral bond after his arrest.)"