‘Will find nothing even if CBI conducts 1,000 raids’: Manish Sisodia attacks BJP

Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia told the Delhi assembly that the CBI raid against him was linked the praise showered on the city government’s education model. “In return, Prime Minister Modi ji filed fake FIRs and ordered CBI raids against me,” he said

NEW DELHI: Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Friday said the first information report (FIR) filed against him over implementation of the now-withdrawn excise policy was a fake and that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will not find anything incriminating even if it carries out 1,000 raids.

Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia at the Delhi Legislative Assembly in New Delhi on Friday. (PTI)

Addressing a special session of the Delhi assembly, the senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader delivered a sharp takedown of the corruption allegation against him, and accused CBI of working at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which, he said, was insecure because of the AAP government’s performance, particularly in the education sector.

The special session comes against the backdrop of raids by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Sisodia in connection with the Union territory’s now-scrapped 2021-22 excise policy; and AAP’s accusations that the CBI case against Sisodia was designed to pressurise him to join the BJP and unseat the AAP government.

The BJP has dismissed the claim, insisting that it was only an attempt to avoid responding to specific points raised by the opposition on the excise policy.

The back-and-forth between the BJP and AAP escalated over CBI raid at deputy chief minister Sisodia’s residence last Friday in connection with a case registered by the central agency to probe alleged irregularities in the implementation of the excise policy.

Sisodia said this is the first corruption case in the country where no additional financial burden has been put on the citizens and the government is also getting more revenue in form of licensing fees. “The CBI headquarters has become BJP headquarters. BJP leaders are floating a range of figures for this scam. At least, they should all arrive at a common figure for this scam,” he added.

Sisodia said in the FIR registered against him, every allegation is attributed to sources. No investigating agency in the world operates like this. “I have also been a journalist. This is the first FIR that I have seen based on sources,” he added.

Sisodia said that CBI officers went through his belongings, bedroom, pillows, mattress, children’s clothes and every nook and corner of the house for 14 hours but found nothing. “Now I don’t even have a phone or WhatsApp number. The phone has been blocked,” he said.

Sisodia and his party have attributed the CBI action to their good performance being appreciated globally, a point he reiterated on Friday as well. “I work honestly to improve the education sector of Delhi and I am willing to bear the brunt,” he said.

Sisodia outlined the progress made in the government school sector in Delhi. “In return, Prime Minister Modi ji filed fake FIRs and ordered CBI raids against me. In his place, if Arvind Kejriwal was the prime minister of the country and Sisodia was education minister from some other party, he would have hugged me and encouraged me instead of filing FIRs,” he added

The minister said that if anyone undertakes good work, it creates a sense of insecurity in BJP.

“Like a serial killer, BJP works to topple one elected government after another when they could use the same energy to develop schools and hospitals,” he added.

“If we did not have such backward thinking, we would not be at this level of education where an average child gets 6 years of education. Bangladesh also provides 6 years of education but USA provides 13 years of average education. Germany provides 14 years. They do not have political leaders of such backward thinking,” he added.

Sisodia said he was approached with an offer to withdraw cases registered by CBI and ED. “They told me that I will be made to rot in jail for entire life. I was told to join BJP and asked how many MLAs I will be able to bring with me,” Sisodia said. “This is a very big conspiracy to topple Delhi government, to ensure people remain uneducated”.