A day after the CBI conducted a raid at Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia’s house, the minister slammed the Modi government and said the 2024 elections will be between Arvind Kejriwal and PM Modi.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Manish Sisodia held a press conference and slammed the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
- He said the 2024 general elections will be between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
- Sisodia denied the corruption charges against him and said he is being targeted for his position in the Kejriwal cabinet.
A day after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia’s house for 14 hours, Sisodia on Saturday said the Excise policy scam case against him is the BJP’s bid to stop Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s developmental schemes. “They want to stop Arvind Kejriwal whose work on education and health is being talked about in the world,” Sisodia said while addressing a press conference on Saturday.
Also Read : Sisodia accused in liquor scam but Kejriwal is kingpin: Anurag Thakur hits back at AAP
Asserting that Kejriwal has emerged as a national option, Sisodia said the 2024 Lok Sabha elections will be between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Kejriwal. Comparing Modi with Kejriwal, Sisodia said while Kejriwal works for the common man, Modi only works for the rich.
2024 battle will be Modi vs Kejriwal, says @msisodia, Delhi Deputy CM .#ITVideo #News #ManishSisodia pic.twitter.com/NFL7uF9BmT
— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) August 20, 2022
“These people are not concerned about the scam, their worry is Arvind Kejriwal who is loved by the masses and has emerged as a national option,” he added.
Attacking PM Modi, the AAP leader said, “Modiji is always busy scheming to topple the state government. He has been made the Prime Minister of the country, he should be working for the country instead of toppling the state government. It doesn’t look good on PM Modi that he is arresting good ministers — the health minister was doing a good job, and he has been arrested. I, as education minister, was doing good work, he wants to arrest me.”
Sisodia also said that the CBI officials might arrest him in the next 3 to 4 days. “It is not a coincidence that the health and education work, which is being lauded across the world, is being targeted. They arrested Delhi Health Minister Satyender Jain. In three-four days, they will arrest me.”
Also, hailing the Delhi Excise policy 2021-22, Sisodia said the Delhi excise policy was implemented with complete transparency and that there was no scam. “It is the best excise policy. Had the LG (Anil Baijal) not changed the Excise policy in the last 48 hours, Delhi would have gotten revenue of Rs 10,000 crore.”
Sisodia categorically denied the allegations of his corruption and said the only crime he committed was that he is the education minister in Kejriwal’s cabinet. “Their issue is not the liquor/excise scam. Their problem is Arvind Kejriwal. The proceedings against me, raids at my residence and office, are to stop him. I haven’t indulged in any corruption activities. I’m just Arvind Kejriwal’s education minister,” said Sisodia.
CONGRESS WORKERS HOLD PROTEST
Meanwhile, Delhi Congress workers under the leadership of state party president Anil Chaudhary held a protest on Saturday demanding the resignation of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.
This comes a day after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted a raid for nearly 15 hours at Sisodia’s house in connection with the alleged corruption in the implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy.
The protest marched towards the headquarters of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi’s Rose Avenue.
Visuals from the protest showed party workers burning the effigies of AAP supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia. A party worker also wore a mask of Kejriwal and sat on a donkey.
Former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit’s son Sandeep Dikshit was also present at the protest. He alleged that Kejriwal used to divert funds from the central government under the guise of NGOs.
