Indian opposition leader detained in liquor scandal case
Several demonstrators gathered on Monday to protest Manish Sisodia's arrest.
-
Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia is seen in a video which was widely circulated on social media. He remains under the custody of authorities since his arrest on Sunday (YouTube screenshot)
A top opposition leader in India, Manish Sisodia, was arrested on Sunday on corruption charges which involve defects in formulating Delhi’s liquor policy.
Manish Sisodia, a prominent opposition leader, is also a leading figure in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), a party that rivals the dominant BJP headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and emerged as an anti-corruption movement over a decade ago.
Sisodia is also the deputy chief minister of Delhi and the No. 2 official in the regional government that assumes considerable leverage in administerial functions.
VIDEO | Court grants CBI custody of Delhi's Deputy CM Manish Sisodia till March 4. He was arrested by the CBI for alleged corruption in implementing the excise policy for 2021-22 yesterday. pic.twitter.com/mEMmzjZKgS
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) February 27, 2023
The corruption case involves irregularities in a liquor sales policy that was enacted in Delhi in 2021.
The now-scrapped policy allowed all private vendors to make liquor sales in the city. Sisodia was charged with bribing businesses with licenses to trade alcohol.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said in a statement that Sisodia gave investigators "evasive replies" when he was questioned for nine hours over the corruption case. It added that Sisodia was arrested when he refused to cooperate.
Several demonstrators gathered on Monday to protest his arrest.
.@AAPTELANGANA gheraos BJP HQ at Hyderabad against the misuse of CBI by Modi Govt.
— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) February 27, 2023
BJP arrested Dy CM Manish Sisodia to distract the country from the Modi-Adani SCAM‼️ pic.twitter.com/C3Gkao7uGI
Sisodia's supporters argue that the CBI abused its power and fabricated a scam scandal in order to distract the public from the Modi-Adani scam, which involves the theft of millions of investors' hard-earned money in a financial fraud scheme.
Party members of the Aam Aadmi Party have maintained that their leaders have been targeted by the BJP via central agencies.
Read more: Ukraine crisis must be resolved politically, says India's Modi
On Monday, Sisodia tweeted prior to being questioned that he was "Going to the CBI again today, will cooperate fully with the entire investigation. The love of lakhs of children and the blessings of crores of countrymen are with us. I don’t care if I have to stay in jail for a few months. I am a follower of Bhagat Singh, Bhagat Singh was hanged for the country. It is a small thing to go to jail over such false allegations."
आज फिर CBI जा रहा हूँ, सारी जाँच में पूरा सहयोग करूँगा. लाखों बच्चो का प्यार व करोड़ो देशवासियो का आशीर्वाद साथ है
— Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) February 26, 2023
कुछ महीने जेल में भी रहना पड़े तो परवाह नहीं. भगत सिंह के अनुयायी हैं, देश के लिए भगत सिंह फाँसी पर चढ़ गए थे. ऐसे झूठे आरोपों की वजह से जेल जाना तो छोटी सी चीज़ है
In October 2023, Sisodia told reporters that he was pressured to leave AAP and join the BJP to avoid jail time.
"BJP says there is a Rs 10,000 crore excise scam. I found at CBI office that there is no scam and the case is fake. The fake case against me is a conspiracy to make BJP’s ‘Operation Lotus’ a success in Delhi," he said.
"Pressure was put on me to quit the AAP. I was offered the Delhi chief minister’s post or face jail term," he added.
Read more: India provides 80 million rural households with tap water
