AAP Vs BJP In 2024 Lok Sabha Polls? A Look At What Both Parties Have To Say Amid CBI Crackdown On Sisodia
Sisodia claimed that CBI may arrest him in the next 3-4 days. However, he opined that he is not scared of the crackdown as his party members are followers of Bhagat Singh.
New Delhi: A day after the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) crackdown on Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia over alleged anomalies in the Delhi Excise Policy, the latter said that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is scared of CM Arvind Kejriwal who is emerging as a "national alternative" to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the run up to 2024 Lok Sabha Elections.
"The 2024 Lok Sabha polls will be a battle between Arvind Kejriwal and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It will be AAP vs BJP," news agency PTI quoted Sisodia as saying, who further alleged that the raids were a ploy to stop Aam Aadmi convener's rise.
Addressing a press conference earlier in the day, Sisodia claimed that CBI may arrest him in the next 3-4 days. However, he opined that he is not scared of the crackdown as his party members are followers of Bhagat Singh.
The AAP leader further said that the people are fed up with PM Modi's "use of CBI and ED for toppling opposition governments and wanted to give a chance to Kejriwal in 2024".
He even claimed that the raids are part of the "script to stop Kejriwal who has emerged as a national alternative".
"They are not concerned about any scam in the excise policy. They are scared of Kejriwal who has gained the love of people, specially after the party's victory in Punjab assembly elections," he said.
Sisodia's allegations triggered a political slugfest between the AAP and BJP, with the latter hitting back, calling Kejriwal the 'kingpin in the liquor scam' in the capital city.
Hitting hard at Kejriwal, Union Minister Anurag Thakur accused his party of trying to divert the issue from the alleged scam by linking the CBI action to politics.
"No matter how hard a corrupt person tries to prove himself innocent, he will still remain corrupt. This is not the first case of corruption by AAP. There has been huge corruption in the liquor stores in Delhi," news agency ANI quoted Thakur as saying.
The Union Minister also alleged that Kerjriwal was shielding corrupt in the garb of development in Delhi. "Even when Satyendra Jain went to jail for corruption, he did not sack him and then he (Jain) claimed that he lost his memory," he said. “The Excise Minister has become Excuse Minister but I hope that his memory should not be lost," Thakur added.
National convenor of BJP's IT cell, Amit Malviya tweeted, "Manish Sisodia has been abandoned by Arvind Kejriwal. Yesterday, Kejriwal didn’t say a word in defence of the new Liquor Excise policy, which caused huge loss to Delhi Govt. Today, Sisodia had to come out to defend Sisodia. But AAP is unable to explain why the policy was reversed…"
Responding to the allegations, AAP MP Raghav Chadha said, "In today's New York Times, there has been a lot of applause for the education model of the Kejriwal government. The same day, the CBI raided the house of Manish Sisodia but did not get anything. Keep doing it, we will fully cooperate in the investigation."
Talking about the CBI raids, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann tweeted saying, "Manish Sisodia is the best education minister of independent India. Today the largest US newspaper NYT printed his photo on the front page. And today itself Modi ji sent CBI to his house. How will India progress like this?"
Notably, the CBI on Friday carried out raids at the residences of Sisodia and IAS officer Arava Gopi Krishna, apart from 19 other locations after registering an FIR in connection with the alleged corruption in the implementation of the Delhi excise policy 2021, officials said.
It is to be noted that Sisodia is number one in the list of 15 people named by the CBI in the FIR.
(With Inputs From Agencies)
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