CM accuses Opposition of slander campaign; BJP welcomes move, announces citywide protests
CM accuses Opposition of slander campaign; BJP welcomes move, announces citywide protests
Lieutenant-Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena on Friday recommended a CBI probe into the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22.
Sources said there were “deliberate and gross procedural lapses” in the policy according to an assessment report prepared by the Delhi Chief Secretary.
“A loss of over ₹144.36 crore was caused to the State exchequer due to the policy while kickbacks were received by the Delhi government and AAP leaders. This money was used to influence the Punjab elections,” a senior official said.
The role of Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who holds the excise portfolio, could also be probed for allegedly providing “undue financial favours” to liquor licensees and causing “huge losses” to the State exchequer, the sources added.
Responding to the development, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal accused the political “Opposition” of embarking on a “malicious slander campaign” against Mr. Sisodia.
Without naming the BJP, Mr. Kejriwal, in a statement issued on Friday, said, “We don’t fear going to jail. You do. You are the sons of Savarkar who apologised to the British. We are the sons of Bhagat Singh, who refused to bow before the British and went to the gallows.”
The Opposition, the Chief Minister added, sought to stall AAP’s growing political clout in the country through such allegations, especially after the party formed the government in Punjab.
Welcoming the move of the L-G, Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta announced a citywide protest against the AAP government, while Delhi BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi questioned how blacklisted companies were given liquor retail contracts. The Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri accused the AAP government of “surrendering to the liquor mafia” through the policy.
According to sources, the report that was sent to both Mr. Saxena and Mr. Kejriwal, alleged departures from laid down procedure and decision-making “only at the level” of Mr. Sisodia as part of a “nefarious mechanism for personal aggrandizement” of AAP leaders through advertising.
“Our Deputy Chief Minister, Manish Sisodia is soon going to be arrested by the CBI. It is just a matter of a few days now. We had made this information public some three-four months back. Our sources among them had informed us,” Mr. Kejriwal said in a digital briefing.
“Since AAP has come to power in Punjab, the storm of its popularity is taking over the country. AAP is growing rapidly all over India and they are trying their best to stop us,” he added.
