Delhi’s
ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said Sunday that Deputy Chief Minister Manish
Sisodia will be arrested on Monday, October 17. AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj
said, “Tomorrow Sisodia ji will be arrested by the central government’s CBI. It
was being claimed that fraud of Rs 10,000 crore had been done and Sisodia had
earned this money.”
Arvind
Kejriwal, Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party supremo, reiterated his
complaints about the Centre misusing central agencies for political purposes.
Kejriwal’s comments were a sharp reaction to the Enforcement Directorate (ED)
issuing a summons to Sisodia over the excise policy case. The ED and the
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are investigating Delhi’s liquor policy
case. Both of them are federal agencies run by the Centre. Sisodia is supposed
to respond to the summons at 11 am Monday.
Kejriwal, giving
a rousing speech about Manish Sisodia and talking about his contributions to
Delhi’s public education system during a press conference, said: “Prison bars
and the threat of a 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.”
Satyendar
Jain was arrested by the ED in a money laundering case earlier this year.
Of Sisodia,
Kejriwal said, “After 75 years, there has been an education minister who is
giving hope to the poor of better education. The prayers of crores of people
are with you.”
Meanwhile,
Bharadwaj, the AAP spokesperson, said, “The CBI and ED have carried out more
that 500 searches so far. Raids were conducted at his (Manish Sisodia’s) place.
What have they found from Rs 10,000 crore? Has anything been found?” He added
that Sisodia’s bank locker was 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 know why this
is happening,” the AAP spokesperson said.