As AAP says Sisodia would be arrested tomorrow, Kejriwal invokes Bhagat Singh
Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday responded sharply as the CBI summoned his deputy Manish Sisodia on Monday at 11 am.
The Delhi chief minister compared Sisodia to freedom fighter Bhagat Singh in the midst of heightening probe in the excise policy case. The 2021-2022 liquor policy, which has now been scrapped, is being probed by two central agencies – the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Three arrests have so far been made in the case even as the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has rebuffed any claims of corruption. At a press briefing soon after the summon, the AAP said that Delhi’s deputy chief minister would be arrested tomorrow.
“Prison bars and the threat of noose could never deter the spirit of Bhagat Singh. This is the second fight for freedom. Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain are today’s Bhagat Singh,” the Delhi Chief Minister tweeted in Hindi, invoking the freedom fighter. He also showered praise on Jain, the Delhi minister who has been in jail ever since he was arrested in a money laundering case by the ED earlier this year.
“After 75 years, there has been an education minister who is giving hope to the poor with better education. The prayers of crores of people are with you,” Kejriwal further wrote. The Delhi CM has been hitting out at the BJP amid the probe in the case, alleging misuse of central agencies. He had even made claims of the BJP trying to topple the ruling government in the national capital as he said that Sisodia had got an offer to switch sides.
On Sunday afternoon, AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj – at a press briefing – said: “Tomorrow Sisodia ji would be arrested by the central government’s CBI. It was being claimed that fraud of ₹10,000 crore had been done and Sisodia had earned this money.”
“The CBI and the ED have carried out more than 500 searches so far. Raids were conducted at his place. What have they found from ₹10,000 crore? Has anything been found?” he asked, adding that Sisodia’s bank locker has been searched.
“What they are trying to do is not for liquor policy but for Gujarat elections. They are trying to deter him. But I want to tell the BJP, if you think that if arrests could weaken the party, that would not happen. People of Gujarat and we know why it’s happening.” he further said, hitting out at the party.
Sisodia also reacted to the summon on Twitter. “At my house, the CBI carried out raids for 14 hours, nothing was found. My bank locker was searched, even then nothing was found. They could not find anything in my village. Now they have called me to CBI headquarters at 11 am tomorrow. I will go and offer my full cooperation. Satyamev Jayate,” he wrote.