NEW DELHI: Hours after Deputy CM Manish Sisodia had appeared for questioning by the CBI on the case related to the erstwhile excise policy, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal compared his deputy and jailed former cabinet minister Satyendar Jain to Bhagat Singh. He also termed the tussle between the Centre and AAP as the second fight for freedom. Earlier the day, Sisodia had announced on Twitter that he will appear before the CBI headquarters at 11 am, and that he will extend full cooperation to the investigation.
“The CBI raided my house for 14 hours, nothing came out of it. They searched my bank locker, and found nothing. They did not find anything in my village. Now they have called me to CBI Headquarters at 11 am tomorrow,” Sisodia tweeted.
In its reaction, the AAP raised an alarm and claimed that the CBI will arrest the senior party leader after questioning. It said that the BJP is rattled with the AAP’s rise in the poll bound Gujarat where the latter is gearing up to give a tough fight to the saffron party which is ruling the state for last 27 years. “To shift the agenda from the growing anti-incumbency against its 27 year long tenure, the BJP now wants to dent the AAP’s poll run. Which is why they have conspired Manish Sisodia’s arrest at CBI headquarters tomorrow,” party leader Atishi claimed.
Quoting the tweet posted by Sisodia, he said, “Jail bars and hanging noose could not deter Bhagat Singh’s lofty intentions. This is the second fight for freedom. Manish and Satyendra are today’s Bhagat Singh.” “After 75 years, the country got an education minister who gave good education to the poor and gave hope for a bright future. Prayers of crores of poor are with you,” he added.
This is the first time that CBI summoned Sisodia–named as primary accused in the case related the controversial liquor policy–for questioning. His house was raided by the agency in August after a go-ahead for investigation from Delhi’s L-G V K Saxena.
Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters, the AAP’s chief spokesperson, Saurabh Bharadwaj, said the central probe agency has summoned Sisodia to arrest him. “We all understand that Manish ji is going to be arrested by the CBI tomorrow. Orders have already been issued in this regard,’ he said. The CBI has questioned a number of people, including Sameer Mahandru, owner of Indo Spirits, Amit Arora, the director of Buddy Retail Private Limited in Gurugram, and India Ahead News director Mootha Gautam, in connection with the case.