Manish Sisodia At CBI Office, Says Going Away For 7-8 Months: 10 Points

Manish Sisodia has been called for questioning by the CBI today in the Delhi liquor policy case

New Delhi: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia arrived at the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) headquarters for questioning in the liquor policy case on Sunday around 11 am after an impassioned send-off by AAP supporters.

Here's your 10-point cheat sheet to this big story

Mr Sisodia left his home just before 10 am, standing out of the sunroof of his car and leading a roadshow of AAP supporters who waved placards and shouted slogans. He visited Mahatma Gandhi's memorial at Delhi's Rajghat and then delivered a speech. Many AAP leaders said they have been put under house arrest because the CBI will arrest Manish Sisodia.
"Even if I am in jail for 7-8 months, don't feel sorry for me, be proud. PM [Narendra] Modi is afraid of Arvind Kejriwal, so he wants to frame me in a fake case. You should fight on. My wife, who has stood by me from Day 1, is unwell and alone at home. Take care of her. And I want to tell children of Delhi, study hard and listen to your parents," Mr Sisodia told supporters.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted, "God is with you, Manish. The blessings of lakhs of children and their parents are with you. When you go to jail for the country and society, it is not a curse, it is a glory. I pray to God that you return from jail soon. Children, parents and all of us in Delhi will be waiting for you."
The CBI had previously called Mr Sisodia for questioning on February 19. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader, who is also Delhi's Finance Minister, however, sought a week's time for making Delhi Budget. The CBI agreed to his request.
Mr Sisodia and others face corruption allegations in bringing a new liquor sale policy in the national capital. Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena had ordered the CBI probe last year. The Delhi government reverted to the old liquor policy and blamed the Lieutenant Governor for loss of revenue worth crores of rupees.
The BJP said the Delhi government went back to the old liquor sale policy to cover up corruption in the excise department held by Mr Sisodia. The CBI has named seven accused in the liquor policy case chargesheet, which has no mention of Mr Sisodia.
The CBI has said it is focusing on the alleged influence of a "South Lobby" of businessmen and politicians making the Delhi liquor policy to swing in their favour using middlemen, traders and bureaucrats. Recently, the CBI arrested Butchibabu Gorantla, a former chartered accountant of K Kavitha, leader of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi and daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao.
The AAP alleged the BJP at the centre was behind the Lieutenant Governor's decision to send the CBI after Mr Sisodia. The liquor policy case soon found itself on top of the long list of friction points between the AAP and the Lieutenant Governor, and by extension the centre.
The most recent example of the friction between the Lieutenant Governor and the AAP was when the Supreme Court agreed to the AAP's request that members of Delhi's civic body nominated by the Lieutenant Governor can't vote in the mayor election.
Even before the mayor election, back in November last year, Arvind Kejriwal had alleged that the centre, with the Lieutenant Governor working as a proxy, wanted to harm the AAP's election campaign in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The BJP had swept the polls.