9 Oppn leaders write to PM on Sisodia’s arrest

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and eight leaders of opposition parties on Sunday wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging “blatant misuse of central agencies”, citing the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) arrest of senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and the city’s erstwhile deputy CM Manish Sisodia

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and eight leaders of opposition parties on Sunday wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging “blatant misuse of central agencies”, citing the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) arrest of senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and the city’s erstwhile deputy CM Manish Sisodia.

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The missive was also signed by Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, west Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao, Bihar deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav, SP’s Akhilesh Yadav, National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah and Nationalist Congress Party head Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) head Uddhav Thackeray. However, the Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and Left parties were notable absentees from the list of signatories.

The signatories alleged that Sisodia’s arrest was suggestive of a “political witch-hunt” that threatened the country’s democratic values.

“The blatant misuse of central agencies against the members of the opposition appears to suggest that we have transitioned from being a democracy to an autocracy,” said the letter.

“Sisodia is recognised globally for transforming Delhi’s school education. His arrest will be cited worldwide as an example of a political witch-hunt and further confirm what the world was only suspecting — that India’s democratic values stand threatened under an authoritarian BJP regime,” it added.

BJP spokespersons dismissed the allegations and accused the signatories of trying to “protect each other from corruption charges”.

Sisodia’s arrest — the second of a Delhi minister, after Satyender Jain was taken into custody on May 30 — was criticised by chief ministers across states and senior leaders of most opposition parties, including the Congress.

CBI arrested Sisodia on February 26, alleging irregularities in the formulation and implementation of Delhi’s 2021-22 excise policy. Sisodia has denied any wrongdoing and called the investigation “politically motivated”.

Jain, meanwhile, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in May last year, in connection with alleged money-laundering and hawala transactions from Kolkata-based shell firms. He too has maintained his innocence in the matter.

The AAP, led by Kejriwal, has called the arrests attempts to destabilise the party’s work in health care and education. In a press briefing on Wednesday, he alleged that the cases were “fabricated” and that the charges against Jain and Sisodia would be wiped if the two joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a vein of thought that was echoed in Sunday’s letter.

Sunday’s letter has alleged that central probe agencies have acted largely against Opposition members after 2014, adding that leaders who joined the BJP have been let off.

“For example, former Congress member and current Assam chief minister (CM) Shri Himanta Biswa Sarma was probed by the CBI and the ED in 2014 and 2015 over the Saradha chit fund scam. However, the case didn’t progress after he joined the BJP. Similarly, former TMC leaders Shri Suvendu Adhikari and Shri Mukul Roy were under the ED and CBI scanner in the Narada sting operation case but the cases didn’t progress after they joined the BJP ahead of the assembly polls in the state. There are many such examples, including that of Shri Narayan Rane of Maharashtra,” said the letter.

It also pointed out at the number of raids carried out against opposition leaders such as Lalu Prasad of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Sanjay Raut of the Shiv Sena (UBT), Azam Khan (SP), Abhishek Banerjee (TMC) while adding that these actions have “sparked suspicion that they were working as extended wings of the ruling dispensation at the Centre”.

The letter also alleged that governors were impairing governance in their states.

Elected governments led by Opposition groups have been at loggerheads with centrally appointed governors, or lieutenant governors, in several states, including Delhi, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and West Bengal.

“The offices of the Governors across the country are acting in violation of the constitutional provisions and frequently hindering the governance of the state. They are wilfully undermining democratically elected state governments and choosing instead to obstruct governance as per their whims and fancies,” said the letter.

While speaking to the media in Raipur on Sunday, Kejriwal reiterated his allegations that the BJP is misusing probe agencies and governors.

“ED and CBI have been left to go behind the opposition with full fury. The Prime Minister has adopted a very unique working style. He is trying his best to prevent opposition party governments from functioning in peace,” he argued.

He reiterated his allegation that people under the scanner of investigative agencies were handed a clean slate if they switched allegiances.

“Uddhav Thackeray was the CM (of Maharashtra) and his government was overthrown by the BJP using ED and CBI. Several MLAs of the MVA (Maha Vikas Aghadi) government were facing ED and CBI cases but the moment they switched allegiance to BJP, they were freed of charges.”

The chief minister added that the Delhi lieutenant governor VK Saxena “does not believe in the Supreme Court and the Constitution” regarding the distribution of powers.

“The LG is openly saying that he does not believe in the Constitution and the Supreme Court. How will such a country function? If the PM of the country does not allow non-BJP governments to work and creates hurdles everyday, then it is a very dangerous situation for the country,” he said.

Officials from the Delhi LG’s office did not respond to requests for comment on the matter.

BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said Opposition parties stand for “protecting each other from corruption charges”.

“Those who were allegedly involved in corruption while occupying constitutional positions are now saying that probe agencies should not investigate,” said Trivedi, a Rajya Sabha MP of the ruling party.

During the current era of Azadi Ka Amrit Kaal, Trivedi said he was reminded of Bal Gangadhar Tilak’s slogan that “self-rule is our birthright” and then took a swipe at opposition leaders, saying they seem to believe that “corruption is their right in power”.