Arrested Delhi ministers Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain resign; portfolios to be given to Gahlot, Anand

Manish Sisodia was arrested by the CBI on Sunday and the Supreme Court refused to entertain his bail application in the matter.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's trusted lieutenants Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, both behind bars on corruption charges, resigned from the Cabinet on Tuesday.

Kejriwal has accepted the resignations of the two leaders, who played a pivotal role in implementing his governance agenda of good education and health facilities in the national capital, according to officials.

According to reports, Sisodia's portfolios would be allotted to Revenue Minister Kailash Gahlot and Social Welfare Minister Raj Kumar Anand.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain a bail plea filed by Sisodia. "We are not inclined to entertain the petition under Article 32 at this stage," a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha said. The bench observed that just because the incident has happened in Delhi, Sisodia cannot come to the apex court directly as he has his remedies before the trial court concerned as well as the Delhi High Court. Official sources said Sisodia's portfolios would be allotted to Revenue Minister Kailash Gahlot and Social Welfare Minister Raj Kumar Anand.

The BJP on Monday demanded CM Arvind Kejriwal's resignation for the arrest of two of his ministers in cases of alleged corruption. The party also criticised AAP's street protests against Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia's arrest, asserting that the CBI is acting lawfully against the "corrupt".

Sisodia, who was the deputy chief minister, was holding 18 of the total 33 departments. He looked after departments such as health, education, public works department (PWD), services, finance, power, home and urban development.

He is also in charge of all other departments not specifically allotted to any minister. Apart from Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the Delhi government has six cabinet ministers, including jailed Satyendar Jain who continued to be a minister in the government but without any portfolio.

Sisodia's workload had almost doubled after Jain's arrest, and he was handling most of the crucial departments of the city government. Both have led what the AAP describes as the "successful transformation" of Delhi's education and health services, contributing to the party's popularity and continued electoral success.