Not a case of political vendetta, says former CM Sheila Dikshit on Kumar's arrest

Former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit on Tuesday said the arrest of senior bureaucrat Rajender Kumar by the CBI is unlikely to be a case of political vendetta. "The CBI must have some information which is why he was raided before," she said.

"His office was raided before as well," she added.

Principal secretary to chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, Kumar was arrested by the CBI on Monday, on allegations of corruption charges which apparently took place between 2007 and 2014, when Dikshit was the CM.

The current Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi has levelled serious corruption charges against Dikshit in a Rs400 crore water tanker scam that took place in her regime, which Dikshit called a 'political vendetta'.

A case was also registered against both the erstwhile Dikshit government and the Kejriwal government by the Delhi anti-corruption branch, which is controlled by the Centre.

Dikshit also hinted that she may be the Congress' chief ministerial face in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.

"If the party wants me to do something, I will," Dikshit, 78, said, adding there is little time left."

"I am Uttar Pradesh's bahu (daughter-in-law)," she said.

Dikshit had earlier shown reluctance in the role, after she was projected as the Brahmin candidate for the Congress, as a strategy for the complex caste politics of the state.

She also said that if Priyanka Gandhi joins in, she will be welcomed by the party, adding that Gandhi would be an asset for the party.