Post his bail in the alleged excise policy scam case, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, on Friday, i.e., August 16, opened up about his time during the 17-month long jail term, stressing that no matter whatever the world thought of him, his family knew that he was innocent.
In an exclusive talk with Zee News, Manish Sisodia said, "Whatever the world says, your family knows your truth. This was my strength. My son knew his father did not do anything wrong. Had I done something wrong, the impact would have been visible in my house. The power of truth cannot be disturbed".
After serving 17 months of jail term in the alleged excise policy scam case, Sisodia was released on a bail, earlier this month, following an order of the Supreme Court which remarked that it is high time that the trial courts and high courts recognise that the principle of bail is a rule and jail is an exception.
The AAP leader further said, "When I was in jail, I was allowed to talk to my family for five minutes. There was an automatic system through which the call would get disconnected after five minutes; it could not be more than that. However, that 5-minute call made me learn the importance of families."
He stated that he shared his emotions with his family during the call.
"There were limitations though. I shared my emotions with my familiy. The calls were recorded. And since I was a victim of a political conspiracy, everyone would listen to the call recordings between me and my wife.
So, we shared everything, because we had nothing to hide. There were spiritual talks too", Sisodia told Zee News.
Further opening up on his time in jail, Manish Sisodia continued, "It can be considered a 'blessing in disguise'. However, when I went to the jail, I asked myself why this happended with me. I am a human being who feels shattered sometimes. But I consoled myself that this was the reality. So, I accepted it and utilised the time I spent in jail. I would read, meditate, and make notes."
He also spoke about the party's preparations for the Delhi assembly polls, which are slated to be held next year.
"The preparations for the upcoming elections are done. What Arvind Kejriwalji has done for Delhi in the past 10 years is unparalleled. The people of Delhi are seeing that despite the attacks being made on the party (AAP), it did not break. Despite its leaders being behind the bars, the party is making relentless efforts to work for Delhi. The people of Delhi feel that we have worked for them with honesty and courage", he said.
Speaking on the recently concluded Lok Sabha Polls 2024, he added, "The pattern of the Lok Sabha polls are quite different. If you look at that, you will realise that the BJP wins the Lok Sabha polls while the AAP secures maximum votes in the assembly polls. This pattern will go on."
The former Deputy Chief Minister also talked about his resignation post his arrest in the alleged excise policy case and claimed that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has set a 'trend of putting the Chief Ministers behind bars and breaking their governments'.
"When a minister goes to jail, he or she probably resigns. But when a Chief Minister is put behind the bars and asked to resign, it would make the government collapse. We have to sheild ourselves from this trend.
Earlier, the trend was not to send Chief Ministers to jail in false cases and break the governments. This trend has been visible in the past 7-8 years. This has been done by the BJP in Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, etc. However, when their 'mission lotus' was not successful in Jharkhand, they sent the Chief Minister to jail and tried to break the government", Sisodia said while speaking to the news channel.
