Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav.
| Photo Credit: ANI
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav on Monday attacked the Narendra Modi government over the arrest of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a corruption case related to the excise policy.
Mr. Yadav accused the Centre of arresting Mr. Sisodia to “divert the real issue of Gautam Adani”.
“The entire country knows very well why he [Manish Sisodia] has been arrested. It has been done with the motive to divert the real issue of Gautam Adani. There was continuous demand for a probe in the Parliament [into the Adani Group] and now that issue is gone,” Mr. Yadav said. He spoke to mediapersons at the Bihar Assembly’s portico on the first day of the Budget session.
Also read: Manish Sisodia’s arrest is a bid to divert attention from Adani scam: CPI(M)
Opposition leaders have been demanding a probe either by a Joint Parliamentary Committee or monitored by the Chief Justice of India into alleged financial fraud by the Adani Group.
Mr. Yadav further alleged that the Modi government deployed Central agencies to harass Opposition leaders.
“I have been telling this since day one that how these people [the Union government] use Central agencies to harass opposition leaders. You should not wonder about the arrest because the government at the Centre has been doing such things for a long time. As the date of election will come near, they will take more such action against several other leaders of the opposition,” Mr. Yadav alleged.
Also read: ‘Modi govt. doing what Indira Gandhi did during Emergency’, says AAP on Sisodia arrest
Several AAP workers staged a protest in front of the BJP office in Patna, demanding Mr. Sisodia’s release. Workers shouted slogans against Mr. Modi holding placards.
“The people of this country are watching how the action has been taken against our leader. There is no evidence against Manish Sisodia- ji and despite that, he has been arrested by the CBI. The Narendra Modi government is afraid due to the popularity of the AAP. He has been arrested because he has taken initiative to educate poor people, being the Education Minister. This government is not doing anything on Adani who has looted the money of our country,” Manoj Kumar, vice president of the AAP’s Bihar unit said.
Mr. Yadav also hinted that action would be taken against his own party MLA, Sudhakar Singh, who has been criticising Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Today, Mr. Singh mocked Mr. Kumar for having prime ministerial ambitions, adding that it would be “better to impose President’s Rule in the country instead of having Nitish Kumar as PM”. Mr. Singh further said that Bihar had “moved backward” since Mr. Kumar became its CM.
Taking the notice of his statement, Mr. Yadav said, “We have chosen Nitish- ji as the leader of the mahagathbandhan and despite this, if anyone is issuing statements against him, it means he is acting on the behalf of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the BJP. This is not welcome at all. If he [Mr. Singh] is continuously speaking against Nitish- ji intentionally, soon, a decision will be taken on him.”