Taking a dig at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over his demand for Bharat Ratna for his deputy Manish Sisodia, BJP national general secretary B L Santhosh on Monday said the next demand could be the Nobel Prize for himself. The BJP leader’s response came hours after Arvind Kejriwal praised his education minister Sisodia urging the Prime Minister to felicitate him with the highest civilian award for improving the education standard in Delhi schools.
Calling the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) anarchic, BL Santhosh tweeted, "Padma Vibhushan ‘ for Satyendra Jain ... Bharath Ratna for Manish Sisodia .... Next Noble Prize for himself ..... Great going anarchist party"
Earlier on Monday, the AAP supremo targeted the BJP-led central government and said instead of noting the contributions made by Sisodia in improving the education standards in the national capital, the Centre is harassing Sisodia with CBI raids.
"Does BJP have any shame? The person who should be given Bharat Ratna. The person (Manish Sisodia) who should be handed over the education system of the whole country. The PM should call them and understand the education model, instead of getting CBI raids on him. The whole society is angry about this raid. Will this benefit the country?" Kejriwal tweeted Monday.
Kejriwal, who is on a two-day visit to poll-bound Gujarat accompanied by Sisodia, tried to defend his deputy saying Sisodia had done what others could not achieve in seven decades.
“He (Manish Sisodia) reformed govt schools which other parties could not do in 70 years. Such a person should get Bharat Ratna. The entire country’s education system should be handed over to him, but instead, they conducted CBI raids on him,” Kejriwal said addressing a press conference along with Sisodia on Monday, according to the news agency ANI.
Both the leaders will attend a town hall meeting in Bhavnagar on Tuesday.
The statement came after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) carried out searches at Sisodia’s home and several other places in connection with the alleged corruption in the implementation of Delhi’s Excise Policy last week.
Sisodia is among 15 people and entities named in an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with alleged irregularities in the implementation of the Delhi excise policy.