The arrest of Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia by the Central Bureau of Investigation has sharply drawn both Bharatiya Janata Party and Aap Party into a serious political battle.
It may have been a routine arrest of Sisodia ostensibly for the alleged involvement in the Delhi liquor policy scam, but arrest of a top leader like Manish Sisodia and deputy chief minister has given sufficient fodder to the AAP to blacken the BJP and Modi, as also the BJP to drum up the fact that they have “zero” tolerance for corruption and that “no one is above the law”.
Now it may not have any impact on the 2024 general elections but it does give a political talking point to both the parties.
The AAP standing solidly behind Sisodia has said that the real target is Arvind Kejriwal and AAP party, as there was no other leader like Kejriwal who puts a scare into the BJP. In other words, it is Kejriwal and not Gandhi who can take on Modi come 2024.
. The BJP’s intention to arrest Manish Sisodia and Satyendra Jain before that is attempt by the BJP to finish off the AAP party and its leaders, claim AAP members. The motivation, they say is clearly political.
Countering the charge of political vendetta the BJP says the issue is entirely one of corruption as it stems out of the sudden withdrawal of the liquor policy once flagged by the Lt. Governor was suddenly withdrawn.
But the AAP retorts that people who whisk away billions and trillions are not touched by the central government and roam around freely because they are their “friends” of the BJP. Not even a notice is sent to them.
The AAP asks if Manish Sisodia made thousands of crores “where is the money trail?”.
There had been raids at Manish Sisodia’s office and home too and nothing incriminating had been found, the AAP claims.
The CBI decided to arrest Sisodia after grilling for more than eight hours primarily on the grounds that he did not answer questions and was evasive.
The BJP on its part says that Manish Sisodia has a lot to answer primarily as to why liquor policy was suddenly withdrawn once there was talk of corruption.
The bone of contention is that the said liquor policy was allegedly meant to benefit the liquor lobby and had substantially enhanced the commission to around 12 percent from about 2 percent.
The CBI would try to find out how certain contentious provisions had come into the final draft of the withdrawn liquor policy.
The BJP asks why manufacturers of liquor were allowed in the retail business in the withdrawn policy.
The AAP party feels that the arrest of Manish Sisodia was vendetta for the loss BJP faced in Delhi Municipal Corporation after years.
The AAP party has decided to show a bold face in face of the arrest and said that Sisodia had become the victim of “dirty politics”.
The BJP alleging that AAP was encouraging liquor culture in the capital has also asked why many blacklisted companies were taken back.
Even though the BJP claims that the enforcement agencies are apolitical and purely go by the facts of the case, no one in the opposition is likely to accept their claim.
The AAP has clearly said that arrests of their members were just a misuse of enforcement/investigative agencies by the central government.
The BJP is definitely trying to take as much advantage as possible by pointing that it is shameful that a Minister of Education was getting arrested for excise policy
The BJP is going to drum the fact that BJP has zero tolerance for corruption and that Satyendra Jain is still in jail not being able get bail from the courts.
In this mutual blame game by political parties it will be difficult for the general public to know where the truth lies and who is accountable.
