India: After 9-hour questioning, Delhi Deputy CM Sisodia says CBI asked him to quit AAP

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia left the CBI headquarters in the national capital on Monday after nine hours of questioning in the excise policy case.

He was summoned by the central agency following which the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) took out a rally on the way to CBI headquarters earlier on Monday.

Speaking to the media at his residence, Sisodia said that the case against him was intended not to probe any scam but to “make Operation Lotus successful in Delhi”.

“Today I saw in the CBI office that there’s no issue of any scam (excise policy case). The whole case is fake. I understood all that in the nine hour-questioning today. The case isn’t to probe any scam against me, but to make Operation Lotus successful in Delhi,” he said.

Sisodia further claimed that he was asked inside the CBI office to leave AAP and said that he was offered to be made the chief minister.

“I was asked inside the CBI office to leave (AAP), or else such cases will keep getting registered against me... I said I won’t leave AAP for BJP. They said they’ll make me CM,” he alleged.

According to a CBI official, the Delhi Deputy Chief Minister has not been summoned on Tuesday, however, he could be summoned again later.

“CBI will evaluate the answers given by (Delhi Dy CM) Manish Sisodia and if needed, he will be summoned again later. No summons to Sisodia for tomorrow,” an official said.

Sisodia had arrived for questioning amid the allegations by the party of his possible arrest in the case.

ALSO READ:

• India: Delhi Deputy CM remarks 'tell me where I need to come' after Look Out Circular issued

• How India is making public places cleaner and healthier

Addressing the workers of the party before going to the agency headquarter, Sisodia had called upon AAP workers to “feel proud if he is sent to jail”.

“They are preparing to send me to jail. CBI raided my residence but nothing was found. Don’t feel sorry if I am sent to jail, feel proud,” he said.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal linked Sisodia’s summons to the Gujarat Assembly elections later this year and alleged that his deputy chief minister would be arrested.

“Nothing was found in Manish’s house raid, nothing was found in the bank locker. The case against them is completely false. He had to go to Gujarat for the election campaign. They are arresting him to stop him from going. But the election campaign will not stop. Every person in Gujarat is promoting AAP today,” Kejriwal tweeted this morning.

On Sunday, AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj claimed that Sisodia “will be arrested”.

He also tried to draw parallels between the CBI summoning Sisodia with the upcoming Gujarat election. “CBI has summoned Manish Sisodia and will arrest him tomorrow. It has been alleged that a huge scam of Rs10,000 crore has taken place and for that CBI and ED (Enforcement Directorate) have raided at least 500 places so far. CBI raided Sisodia’s residence for 14 hours, but they could not find anything,” said Bhardwaj.

“This is directly linked with Gujarat elections as AAP competes with the BJP there and hence is scared,” he added.

Meanwhile, BJP lashed out at the AAP for its show of strength in a rally and called it a “celebration of corruption”.

“When Rahul Gandhi was summoned by ED, then also Congress started doing drama like this. It will not be an exaggeration to say that it is a celebration of corruption. First, they did corruption while giving liquor licences in Delhi and now they are doing all this drama,” said a BJP spokesperson.

“The way Manish Sisodia was raising slogans in an open car on the streets along with his supporters today, it seems as if Aam Aadmi Party has won the world cup of corruption. Arvind Kejriwal was a part of Anna Hazare’s movement and used to say that he will finish corruption, but now it seems AAP has itself become the most corrupt party in the country,” he added.

• India