Manish Sisodia arrest: AAP, other opposition parties allege vendetta politics, BJP rejects charge

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has claimed that Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was innocent and had been arrested due to vendetta politics, a charge rejected by the BJP which said the law was taking its course.

AAP leaders had failed to explain several questionable actions in the Delhi excise policy matter, the BJP alleged and said that agencies do not work on emotion but look into technicalities.

While the Delhi Congress demanded that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal should also be arrested, calling him the "mastermind", the Trinamool Congress (TMC) took a swipe at the BJP, saying only agencies like the CBI and the ED remain its "true allies". Hitting out at the BJP, AAP said it was a black day for democracy.

"Manish is innocent. His arrest is dirty politics. His arrest has angered people quite a lot. People are watching everything. People now understand everything and will give reply to this. It will boost our spirit and our struggle will only get stronger," CM Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi.

Party MP Sanjay Singh said Sisodia's arrest is the "height of dictatorship".  "You have arrested a good person and best education minister which is not the right thing, Modi ji. God will not forgive you. One day, your dictatorship will definitely end, Modi ji," Singh said in a tweet in Hindi.

READ | DNA Explainer: Why CBI arrested Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia?

AAP spokesperson and MLA Atishi said Sisodia was arrested because of the growing popularity of the party and its leader Arvind Kejriwal. "It is a black day for democracy. BJP'S CBI has arrested the world's best education minister Manish Sisodia who has shaped the future of several children in a false case. BJP has carried out this arrest due to political vendetta," the AAP said in Hindi on its Twitter handle.

But BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra targeted Sisodia, saying he must be the only education minister in the world who is involved in liquor scam, and added the entire episode is an eye-opener and shocking.

"Law is taking its course and that is why Sisodia has been arrested. There is nothing surprising in this. A liquor scam was done in Delhi and from the arrests made so far, it was believed that Manish Sisodia would also be arrested eventually," Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said in a statement.

The war of words between the two parties started early in the day as Sisodia, accompanied by supporters, arrived for questioning by CBI after paying homage to Mahatma Gandhi at the Raj Ghat and expressed apprehension that he may be arrested.

Sisodia was arrested after nearly eight hours of questioning on various aspects of the now-scrapped excise policy for 2021-22, which the probe agency says suffered from irregularities both in its formulation and implementation, allegedly intended to benefit people with links to the AAP.

"We had asked AAP and its leaders why Manish Sisodia allowed cartelisation in the excise policy. Besides, we asked some more pointed questions. However, we received no answer from them. They keep beating around the bush.

"AAP leaders cannot hide their corruption through event management," Patra said. He called Sisodia "liquor minister" and accused him of several irregularities including a hike in commission for wholesalers to make money for his party through the backdoor.

Probe agencies, the BJP leader said, do not work on emotion but look into technicalities and the AAP never answered technical questions about the excise policy its government had brought in the national capital.
Meanwhile, the TMC mocked the BJP over the arrest of Sisodia.

"If Manish Sisodia had got himself a BJP brand of washing machine, he would never be arrested. Bravo, Manish. Allies, Shiv Sena, SAD, JD(U), TDP and many others have all abandoned BJP. Only CBI, ED, IT remain true allies. Targeting Opposition leaders is the DESPERATE DUO'S favourite job," said TMC Rajya Sabha MP and national spokesperson Derek O'Brien in a tweet.

Delhi Congress chief Anil Chaudhary alleged that AAP "used power to accumulate wealth" and said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal should also be arrested as he was the mastermind of the "corrupt deal".