‘Manish Sisodia will be next’: Arvind Kejriwal on CBI arresting AAP’s Vijay Nair

AAP national convenor and chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said the BJP was busy plotting schemes to destroy AAP. “They have arrested Satyendra Jain, Amanatullah and Vijay Nair. Now they will arrest Manish Sisodia next week,” he said in a video message`

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday led the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) counteroffensive against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the arrest of its communication strategist Vijay Nair by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), saying he was arrested because he refused to give false testimony against deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia who, he said, could be arrested next week in the Delhi excise policy 2021-2022 case.

Delhi chief minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal said the CBI case and arrest of its social media strategist Vijay Nair was linked to AAP’s Gujarat election campaign. (PTI File Photo)

Kejriwal also linked the arrest to the AAP’s high-pitched campaign in Gujarat where the BJP has been in power for more than two decades, a point reiterated by party leaders Atishi and Sanjay Singh as well.

The chief minister said Vijay Nair, a businessman and AAP’s communications strategist, was just a party worker who had done “good work” in Punjab and now looked after AAP’s social media campaign in Gujarat. “He has been arrested in liquor policy case but I can not understand how he may be linked with liquor policy at all. Vijay Nair is a small-time worker who looks after social media of Gujarat,” Kejriwal said in a recorded video message.

The chief minister alleged that Vijay Nair was being called every day for questioning and that he was pressurised to level false allegations against Manish Sisodia. “Vijay was warned that if he does not implicate Sisodia, he too will be arrested but he remained true to the party and refused to lie so he has been arrested now,” Kejriwal said.

According to CBI, Nair, 38, was allegedly involved in the formulation and implementation of the excise policy and played the role of a conduit in the transfer of alleged bribes to public servants. Nair is a former chief executive officer (CEO) of Mumbai-based event management company M/s Only Much Louder (OML). CBI is investigating the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy 2021-22, under which smaller liquor retailers were allegedly kept out of the tendering process. Sisodia, who also holds the finance and excise portfolio, is the main accused in the case.

AAP has all along denied the bribery charge and contended that the investigation in the excise case was aimed at arm-twisting the party to back down. Kejriwal said it was unfortunate that the BJP was busy with its attempts to crush AAP at a time people were worried about problems such as inflation and unemployment.

“AAP first won Delhi, then Punjab and now they are worried about our win in Gujarat and the whole country. Their only goal is to crush AAP,” he said.

He added that CBI raided Nair’s house twice but found nothing. “They have raided Manish Sisodia’s house and his bank lockers where they found nothing. Now they want to use these dirty pressure tactics to implicate Manish Sisodia. BJP is baffled by AAP’s growing graph in Gujarat. The people of Gujrat are fed up with them. That is why they are busy plotting schemes to destroy AAP. They have arrested Satyendra Jain, Amanatullah and Vijay Nair. Now they will arrest Manish Sisodia next week,” he added.

Kejriwal also asked all AAP workers, especially those from Gujarat, to be ready to get arrested. “I appeal to all AAP workers. If workers like Nair can be arrested, anyone can be arrested. You should be ready to be arrested in these fake cases. Today is Bhagat Singh’s birth anniversary. He fought for the independence of our country from the Britishers. This is the second war of independence. We have to fight to rid our country of these people who are buying MLAs. They are looting our country.

“What Britishers could not manage in 200 years, these people have looted in 75 years. First, one party engaged in loot and now the second party is doing it. You should be ready to go to jail. If you are not capable of going to jail, then join their party,” Kejriwal said .

On Wednesday, Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Sameer Mahendru, managing director of Indospirit Group, in connection with the same case. AAP has not commented on Mahendru’s arrest, saying he was not a member of AAP. “I can only talk about Aam Admi Party,” Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said in response to questions on Mahendru’s arrest.

Delhi BJP has alleged that the arrest of Vijay Nair and Sameer Mahendru reflected corruption and irregularities in the policy and the deputy chief minister, who is the excise minister, is likely to be arrested soon.

At a press conference later, AAP MLA from Kalkaji Atishi said Nair had nothing to do with excise policy. “Nair works to create plans on our social media and communication. He has been arrested because he was heading the party’s Gujarat election’s communication strategy for AAP. It is our growing popularity in Gujarat which led to his arrest by CBI. In the last 5 days, he was being pressurized by CBI to falsely implicate Manish Sisodia,” she added.

The Kalkaji MLA also expressed apprehension that Nair may be forced to implicate Sisodia. Atishi said Nair was a successful entrepreneur who gave up successful businesses to work as a full-time AAP worker. She claimed said that CBI-ED, the two central agencies probing the now-scrapped excise policy, have not been able to produce any evidence against Sisodia.

AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh reiterated the same point. “This entire campaign is being run by BJP-led central government. Vijay Nair… has nothing to do with excise policy. All workers of party are ready to go to jail on the issues related to public welfare such as inflation and unemployment,” Singh said.

Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta said the arrest of Vijay Nair and Sameer Mahedru shows that the AAP government is implicated in the excise case. He demanded that the deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia should be removed from his position.