BJP workers demnading the resignation of Manish Sisodia, on Thursday
| Photo Credit: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA
BJPтАЩs Delhi unit on Thursday staged a protest outside AAPтАЩs office and sought Deputy Chief Minister Manish SisodiaтАЩs sacking over allegations of political intelligence gathering.
In a letter to Lieutenant-Governor Vinai Kumar SaxenaтАЩs office, the MHA granted prosecution sanction under Section 17 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which claims that as per its preliminary inquiry the feedback unit, set up under Delhi governmentтАЩs Vigilance Department in 2015, was involved in gathering political intelligence and snooping. The L-G had earlier this month given his nod and forwarded the CBIтАЩs proposal to the MHA.┬аMr. Sisodia and the AAP government have maintained that the allegations are тАЬcompletely bogusтАЭ.┬а
After the MHAтАЩs nod, the Deputy CM tweeted on Wednesday, тАЬTo file false cases on your opponents is a sign of a weak and cowardly person. As the Aam Aadmi Party grows, more cases will be filed against us.тАЭ
On Thursday, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said the тАЬsnooping scandal was a threat to the countryтАЩs securityтАЭ and asked his party workers to spread the word about it among the people.┬а
тАЬThis protest is not going to stop now and the BJPтАЩs struggle will continue till Sisodia is arrested and resigns from his post of Deputy CM,тАЭ Mr. Sachdeva said.
North-east Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari said that there is now a fear that anyoneтАЩs phone could be tapped. тАЬKejriwal should tell us why he was getting the phones tapped? Were they giving information related to the security of the country to other countries?тАЭ Mr. Tiwari said, adding that the questions about national security are being raised тАЬbecause divisive slogans were raised in Punjab where AAP is in powerтАЭ.
Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said governments across the world have had to resign for spying on opponents. тАЬFormer Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar also had to resign after Rajiv Gandhi accused him of spying on his family,тАЭ Mr. Bidhuri said.
Senior party leaders, including former Union Minister Vijay Goel, Jammu and Kashmir co-in charge Ashish Sood, MLAs Ajay Mahawar and Abhay Verma mobilised the supporters as they raised slogans demanding Mr. SisodiaтАЩs removal from the Cabinet.
