Kejriwal, Mamata among 9 Oppn leaders write to PM Modi against Sisodia’s arrest

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, along with eight Opposition leaders, including Trinamool Congress’s Mamata Banerjee, Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Uddhav Thackeray, NCP’s Sharad Pawar and BRS’s K Chandrashekar Rao, wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday condemning the arrest of former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia by the Centreal Bureau of Investigation in the alleged liquor scam.

The letter slammed the “blatant misuse of central agencies” and questioned why the Adani Group’s “financial irregularities” have not been probed, without naming the conglomerate.

“Manish Sisodia is recognised globally for transforming Delhi’s school education. His arrest will be cited worldwide as an example of a political witch-hunt and further confirm what the world was only suspecting-that India’s democratic values stand threatened under an authoritarian BJP regime,” the letter read.

Citing examples of Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, former TMC leader Suvendu Adhikari, the leaders across different Opposition parties alleged that the “investigation agencies go slow” on cases of those who join the BJP.

“It is clear that these agencies have their priorities misplaced. Following the publication of an international forensic financial research report, SBI and LIC have reportedly lost over ₹78,000 crores in market capitalisation of their shares due to exposure to a certain firm. Why have the central agencies not been pressed into service to investigate the firm’s financial irregularities despite the public money at stake?” the letter added.

Manish Sisodia was arrested by the CBI on February 26 after eight hours of questioning regarding alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy. On Saturday, his CBI custody was further extended by two days by a Delhi court after the completion of a 5-day remand.