The Bharatiya Janata Party today criticised Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia for his speech hours ahead of his appearance before the CBI in the Delhi liquor policy case.
Mr Sisodia led a roadshow of Aam Aadmi Party supporters as he left his home at 10 am today. Amid placards and slogans, he waved to his supporters while standing on the sunroof of his car. Mr Sisodia then visited Mahatma Gandhi's memorial at Delhi's Rajghat before delivering a speech.
Addressing his supporters, Manish Sisodia said it's a "challenging time" and reiterated that he was not scared of going to jail. Reciting Ram Prasad Bismil's immortal lines, "Sarfaroshi ki Tamanna", the Deputy Chief Minister said he had always worked with honesty and thanked his family for their constant support.
Questioning AAP's show of strength ahead of Mr Sisodia's questioning, BJP's Sambit Patra claimed that event management won't help in hiding corruption.
"Converting corruption into event management won't help them hide corruption. AAP did not give any answer on liquor policy scam," Mr Patra said.
"One thing is clear, they are busy hiding the truth. They should give answers to CBI, event management isn't required," the BJP leader added.
BJP's Ramesh Bidhuri asked why Mr Sisodia was visiting Rajghat when the party has removed Mahatma Gandhi's photos from government offices in Punjab.
"After committing theft, they are paying their respects to Mahatma Gandhi," the leader said. He also claimed that Mr Sisodia keeps bringing up a jail term as he is corrupt.
Mr Sisodia and others face corruption allegations in bringing a new liquor sale policy in the national capital. Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena ordered the CBI probe last year. The Delhi government reverted to the old liquor policy and blamed the Lieutenant Governor for the loss of revenue worth crores of rupees.
Mr Sisodia, who also holds the Finance portfolio in the Delhi Cabinet, was originally summoned last Sunday but he sought deferment of his questioning citing the ongoing Budget exercise, following which, the CBI had asked him to appear on February 26.
Alleging that the central government is behind the probe, AAP's Raghav Chadha says that BJP is only scared of Arvind Kejriwal.
"A corrupt person only enjoys the fruits of corruption and doesn't work for the people like Manish Sisodia does. If PM Modi and BJP fear anyone, it is Arvind Kejriwal and AAP. We are a nightmare for the BJP. That's why they want to destroy us," Mr Chadha said in a press conference.
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