BJP’s Sambit Patra claimed the “sting” to be conclusive proof of corruption.
New Delhi:
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who was recently raided by probe agency Central Bureau of Investigation in an alleged liquor scam case, today day hit out at the BJP after it released a “sting operation” video in an attempt to substantiate its allegations that the Aam Aadmi Party personally benefitted from the now withdrawn excise policy in the national capital.
“They stood on the road, sat someone in a car, and asked them some question. Is it a sting?” Mr Sisodia said, questioning the veracity of the video clip released by BJP’s Sambit Patra, who claimed it to be conclusive proof of corruption by the Delhi government.
“The modus operandi as revealed in the video is that 80% profit will go to Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia and their friend. First, you give us our 80% commission and then sell the 20% however you can, we don’t care. This has been the policy of Kejriwal,” Sambit Patra said, after playing the alleged sting video where a man sitting on the front seat of a car claims to be a vendor and “explains” how the alleged corruption works.
Mr Patra claimed the man in the video is Kulvinder Marwah, father of Sunny Marwah, accused number 12 in the alleged liquor scam case. “It is an open and shut case because Marwah ji himself is admitting all these in this video,” Sambit Patra said.
“This is a joke. I have such stings as well, will give it to you tomorrow, then you run that too,” Manish Sisodia said, responding to a reporter’s question on the BJP’s allegations.
The Delhi Deputy Chief Minister reiterated his party’s stand that the BJP’s allegations are entirely baseless and an attempt to stop the Delhi government from working for the welfare of the people.
“BJP has been shouting for a long time that it is a scam. Sometimes it is said to be 1,300 crores, sometimes 8,000 crores, sometimes 500, sometimes 144 crores, and sometimes just 30 crores. They got the CBI to file an FIR and tried to drag my name in legitimate dealings between two companies, that too by just quoting sources,” he said.
Mr Sisodia stressed his family got a “clean chit” in the CBI raids and that the officials found “nothing” at his home and in his bank locker.
“Now when I got a clean chit from the CBI that they have found nothing, the BJP is saying that look, CBI could not find it, we will do a sting,” he said.
Mr Sisodia has earlier said the excise policy was implemented with complete transparency and has alleged that the BJP raised the issue to counter AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal’s political challenge. “These people are not concerned about the scam. Their worry is Arvind Kejriwal [the Chief Minister of Delhi], who is loved by the masses and has emerged as a national option,” he had said following the raids at him home.
The senior Aam Aadmi Party leader, who also handles Delhi government’s excise portfolio, is among the 15 accused named in the FIR filed by the CBI in the liquor policy case.
The CBI has contended that the new policy was introduced without the permission of Delhi’s then Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal. It also says many ineligible vendors were awarded licences by the Delhi government in exchange for bribes. The policy, introduced in November last year, was withdrawn eight months later amid allegations of corruption.
