“BJP’s message has come to me – break you and join BJP, CBI will close all ED cases. My reply to BJP – I am a Rajput, descendant of Maharana Pratap. I will cut off my head but Will not bow down to corrupt and conspirators. All cases against me are false. Do what you want to do,” Sisodia tweeted in Hindi on Monday morning.
Sisodia going with CM Arvind Kejrival On a two-day visit to Gujarat to reach out to voters ahead of the assembly elections, he later said that he was surprised when someone came to him with a message from the two BJP resolutions.
The deputy CM alleged, “The messenger said that one was that all the big cases registered against him by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate would be withdrawn. The second offer was that I would break the party and they would make me the chief minister.” He said, ‘I gave a clear answer to him and said that CM Arvind Kejriwal is my political guru and I have learned politics from him. I have not entered politics to become CM or PM.
Asked who made the alleged offer to him, Sisodia said, “People said that they were tasked to induct leaders like Mukul Roy, Shuvendu Adhikari, Himanta Biswa Sarma and BJ Panda into the BJP.”
Kejriwal said Sisodia deserved the Bharat Ratna for improving the standard of education in Delhi’s schools, but the central government was harassing him for political reasons. “Aren’t you ashamed to ask CBI to raid a man who did wonders in five years, what the current political parties couldn’t do in 70 years and made government schools the best?” Kejriwal said this while talking to the media in Ahmedabad on Monday.
He further said, “Manish Sisodia may be arrested. Who knows, I may also be arrested. All this is being done in view of the Gujarat assembly elections.”
At a press conference in Delhi, AAP MLA Atishi called Sisodia a party soldier and said that he would never leave AAP, no matter how many cases were registered against him or sent to jail.
Atishi said, “This is not the first time the BJP has tried to use their ‘washing machine’. This is their tried-and-tested formula.” “They threaten leaders of parties with CBI-ED raids and then make deals with them. If they join BJP, scams will be washed in the washing machine.”
AAP’s chief spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj similarly alleged that the BJP was running a “political laundry service”. He claimed that the leaders were labeled corrupt and ED-CBI raids were ordered against them, but the day he joined the BJP, all his sins were cleared and he became an innocent, honest leader.
Real face of ‘Kejriwal model’ decoded: BJP
The BJP claimed that the huge loss to the state exchequer due to the “excise scam” had “decoded the true face of the Kejriwal model”. Union Minister Anurag Thakur said that over the years Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has come only one distance from the promise of “Swaraj” to “Shubar Raj” in the capital.
By holding a press conference on Monday, BJP ridiculed the claims made by him. Manish Sisodia That he was offered to join the saffron party in return for “relief” from the ongoing investigation, adding that they would never think of joining him in their fold.
Thakur told reporters, “Kejriwal model has been decoded… All power to make money, organize campaigns with crores of taxpayers money, but zero accountability… and when you are caught, it is always Someone else has the responsibility,” Thakur told reporters.
The party launched a fresh attack on Kejriwal and Sisodia alleging that there were several discrepancies between the excise policy recommended by the panel and what was implemented by the AAP government. BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri and party spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia questioned Kejriwal’s “silence” on the corruption allegations.
“Earlier, we had given them 24 hours to respond to the allegations. If he is staunchly honest, why is he not answering the questions being raised? Only one tweet has come, which is redundant. We again give 24 hours to Kejriwal to answer questions on allegations of corruption in excise policy.
Bhatia claimed that a lottery system was to be adopted for awarding retail vending contracts, but this was not done and areas were given to “few” industrialists. Bidhuri said Sisodia’s claim that he was offered to join the BJP was another attempt to divert attention from the core issue of corruption. Meanwhile, BKP workers staged a sit-in outside Kejriwal’s residence demanding the removal of Sisodia from the cabinet.
The party said it is going to organize “Jan Choupals” in all 70 assembly constituencies of Delhi to take the issue of “corruption and financial irregularities” to the people.
Addressing the protesters, Gupta Asked why the excise policy was withdrawn when it helped in increasing the revenue of Delhi. He alleged that Sisodia was the “criminal of this entire scam” and giving him a place in the cabinet meant promoting corruption.
Bidhuri alleged that 300 liquor shops were opened illegally and the Delhi government took money from the liquor mafia. Former Union minister and MP Harsh Vardhan said Kejriwal has no explanation for “corruption” under the new excise policy.
Delhi BJP general secretary Harsh Malhotra and vice-president Jaiveer Rana said in a joint press conference that the party would set up Jan Choupals in all assembly constituencies from Wednesday.