Delhi BJP working President Virendra Sachdeva on February 27 welcomed the CBI decision to arrest Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.
“The Kejriwal Government designed the Excise policy to loot people, spoil young people’s habits and garner profits through kickbacks. It is the beginning of an end for the AAP,” Sachdeva told ‘Organiser’.
He said, “We do not intend to speak much on matters being investigated by the CBI for quite some time now. But the law is taking its own course”.
“Manish Sisodia was the mastermind and I am glad he is now behind the bars,” Sachdeva added.
In a statement, the CBI said, “The instant case was registered against Deputy Chief Minister and In charge Excise Minister, GNCTD of Delhi and 14 others for an investigation into the matter of alleged irregularities in framing and implementation of Excise Policy for the year 2021-22 and extending post tender benefits to private persons.”
CBI arrested Sisodia on February 26
The Delhi Deputy Chief Minister is among the 15 accused named in the FIR filed by the CBI. The FIR was lodged for alleged violation of rules and procedural lapses in the Excise policy.
The central BJP also flayed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over its claims that the Centre is misusing the CBI.
“Event management can’t save AAP from the law,” said BJP leader Sambit Patra.
“Manish Sisodia, other AAP leaders never explained why they withdrew the excise policy after corruption was flagged… Delhi excise policy was leaked to liquor-contractor ‘friends’ by AAP before it was sent to the Group of Ministers,” Sambit Patra told reporters.
Since the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) most ambitious Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 was scrapped on July 31, 2022, many senior AAP leaders and their close associates have been facing the heat of the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI.
On July 22, 2022, Lt Governor V K Saxena recommended a CBI probe into alleged rule violations and procedural flaws in implementing the new excise policy. The order came after the Chief Secretary of Delhi said in a report that gross violations and undue benefits had been provided to liquor licensees.
The report had indicated “substantively of financial quid pro quo at the top political level”.It also mentioned deliberate violations and gross procedural lapses to provide post-tender undue benefits to liquor licenses for 2021-22.
The BJP leaders have now trained their guns at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, terming him the ‘real kingpin’ of the Excise scam.
“A lot of people have been satisfied with the arrest of Sisodia but the arrest of the real mastermind (allegedly Kejriwal) is yet to be made,” BJP MP Manoj Tiwari said.
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