BJP protests AAP’s ‘spying unit’, govt rubbishes charge

The BJP’s allegations were based on a CBI preliminary inquiry report, which found that a “feedback unit” formed through a Delhi cabinet decision on September 29, 2015, gathered political intelligence

New Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and workers staged at protest at ITO on Thursday, accusing deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on heading a “snooping unit” which spied on political rivals, and demanding both his and chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s resignation.

Delhi BJP working president Virendra Sachdeva with other party leaders at a protest against chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s government at Shahidi Park in New Delhi on Thursday. (Raj K Raj/HT Photo)

Sisodia hit back, denying the allegations and claiming that the BJP was “afraid” of him.

The BJP’s allegations were based on a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) preliminary inquiry report, which found that a “feedback unit” formed through a Delhi cabinet decision on September 29, 2015, gathered political intelligence. The central agency has recommended that a first information report (FIR) be registered against Sisodia, and LG VK Saxena has referred the CBI request to the President of India through the ministry of home affairs.

Speaking at the protest, BJP working president Virendra Sachdeva said, “Kejriwal believes in suppressing and maligning opponents. The first thing Kejriwal did after coming to power was to suppress the political opponents associated with the BJP but as the police were not subordinate to his government so he was unsuccessful. Kejriwal then started his private intelligence unit by bringing policemen from other states to keep an eye on political opponents, central ministers, big business establishments etc.”

Leader of the opposition in the Delhi assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said, “Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia set up a separate department to snoop on Delhi’s LG, MPs and MLAs and are not ready to resign after exposure.”

Hitting back, Sisodia said in a tweet in Hindi, “BJP has brought a new allegation against me that I have been spying on them since 2015. Such big people (BJP leaders), whose existence depends on getting CBI, ED Pegasus to conspire against opposition leaders, are afraid of me. It seems that I have become equal to Modi.”

In an official statement, the government on Wednesday had said, “Till now, CBI, ED (Enforcement Directorate) and Delhi Police have registered 163 cases against us. However, BJP has not been able to prove even a single case. About 134 of these cases have been dismissed by the courts and in the rest of the cases also, the BJP-led Centre has not been able to provide any evidence. These cases are politically motivated.”