CBI will hold a preliminary inquiry against Manish Sisodia over 'Talk to AK' programme.
Highlights
- CBI has registered preliminary inquiry against Mr Sisodia, say sources
- 'Talk to AK', interactive session with Arvind Kejriwal, held last year
- Programme covered issues on relation between Centre and Delhi government
Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia is being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation in a case of alleged irregularities in 'Talk To AK' campaign. Sources said the agency has registered a preliminary inquiry against Mr Sisodia. 'Talk to AK', the maiden interactive session of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal held on July 17 last year.
Soumya Jain, the daughter of Minister Satyendra Jain, also faces a preliminary inquiry about her appointment as an advisor to the Delhi health department for the management of 100 mohalla clinics. Critics have called the appointment unhealthy, pointing out that her father handled the health portfolio.
Within minutes, Mr Kejriwal tweeted, pointing fingers at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "It appears that Modi-ji has lost it. The nation's Prime Minister has only one agenda. He is gunning for us."
So far, 19 legislators of Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party have been arrested in various cases since the party swept the assembly elections in Delhi in February 2015. Mr Kejriwal has repeatedly accused the Centre of gunning for his party lawmakers and "sending Delhiites to jail under false cases".
In the "Talk to AK" programme, the Chief Minister had covered a wide array of hard issues linked to the strained relations between the Centre and the Delhi government - including the possibility of disqualification of 21 parliamentary secretaries, jurisdiction over the Delhi Police and the arrest of his principal secretary Rajendra Kumar by the CBI.
Launched more than a year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's monthly radio programme Mann Ki Baat, Mr Kejriwal's interaction was live streamed on the website www.talktoak.com. The programme had generated huge interest, AAP leaders had said.
The BJP and the Congress had called it a marketing gimmick at the cost of the exchequer. The questions and answers, the two parties had alleged, were "scripted".