Manish Sisodia has been summoned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to appear at the organization’s headquarters on Monday. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) claims this to be a scheme to have him arrested for abstaining from campaigning for the party in Gujarat, which is going to the polls.
As the CBI summoned Manish Sisodia in connection with the alleged excise scam, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday compared his deputy to the illustrious freedom fighter Bhagat Singh. Sisodia, who is also the Delhi Excise Minister, is one of the defendants in the August-filed lawsuit.
AAP leader Sisodia announced on Sunday afternoon that the CBI has asked him to appear before it at the government agency’s headquarters on Monday at 11 a.m. “Raid was conducted at my house for 14 hours, it revealed nothing. My bank locker was scanned. Nothing was found. They found nothing in my village (during a search). Now they have summoned me to CBI headquarters at 11 a.m. on Monday. I will go and extend all cooperation,” Sisodia said in a tweet in Hindi.
Following a recommendation from Delhi lieutenant governor VK Saxena to look into the subject, the CBI launched an investigation into the alleged anomalies and corruption in the formulation and implementation of the Delhi excise policy 2021–22 in August. In Delhi, the now-retracted excise policy was in effect from November 2021 to August 2022.
Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi: “The jail and the gallows could not affect the solid determination of Bhagat Singh. This is the second freedom struggle. Manish and Satyendar Jain (who is in jail in a money laundering case) are today’s Bhagat Singh. After 75 years, the country finally got an education minister who provided good education to the poor and gave them the expectation of a bright future. The blessings of crores of poor are with you.”
