Manish
Sisodia, Delhi’s deputy chief minister and education minister, saw his home
raided by officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday
morning. During the raid, Sisodia, a former journalist, said he will cooperate
with the probe agency and that he has nothing to hide. Following the raid, Aam
Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders came to Sisodia’s defence.

Raghav Chadha,
AAP member of Parliament and one of the party’s chief spokespersons, said
Manish Sisodia is “the hero of education revolution,” and added that the search
was conducted at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Raghav
Chadha said the party will cooperate with the probe agency and exuded
confidence that nothing will be found against leaders.

“The CBI
raided the residence of Manish Sisodia at the behest of the BJP on the day when
Delhi education model was appreciated and his photo appeared on the front page
of America’s biggest newspaper,” Chadha wrote on Twitter in Hindi.

He added
that several raids had been conducted on AAP leaders over the last few years
but nothing has been found.

AAP supremo
and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also came to his deputy’s defence. The
54-year-old former tax official said CBI raid at Manish Sisodia’s house was a
result of his party’s performance being appreciated globally.

The CBI,
India’s premier federal investigating agency, raided 21 locations across seven
states in a case pertaining to allegations about Delhi’s now-scrapped liquor
policy. The Delhi government came up with a new excise policy in November last
year. The policy was scrapped in July.

Delhi
Lieutenant Governor Vinay Kumar Saxena ordered a probe into the excise policy
after the Delhi Chief Secretary filed a report alleging “deliberate and gross
procedural lapses.”

CBI raids
at homes of opposition politicians often draw allegations of politicising probe
agencies. Last week, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav, Lalu Prasad
Yadav’s son, said investigating agencies were being used by the BJP-led central
government for political vendetta. “The central agencies are working like BJP
party’s cell,” Tejaswi Yadav had told NDTV during an interview.