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'AAP means Aur Adhik Paap': BJP counteroffensive amid ED's Sanjay Singh raid
The Enforcement Directorate, which investigates financial crimes, raided Singh's residence in the national capital on Wednesday morning.
The Bhartiya Janata Party on Wednesday mounted a scathing counteroffensive against the Aam Aadmi Party, which accused the BJP-led central government of ordering an Enforcement Directorate raid against AAP MP Sanjay Singh because the latter would continually raise issues linked with the Adani Group in the Rajya Sabha. Describing AAP as 'Aur Adhik Paap (more sins)', BJP politician Shehzad Poonawalla said Delhi's ruling party was playing the victimhood card.
The Enforcement Directorate, which investigates financial crimes, raided Singh's residence in the national capital on Wednesday morning.
"AAP means 'Aur Adhik Paap'. In the liquor scam case, the evil that Arvind Kejriwal and AAP committed is surfacing day by day... Rather than giving report cards on the liquor scam case, they are playing the victimhood card," he said.
Poonawalla said Singh had connections with one of the accused in the case, Dinesh Sharma, who later turned approver. "Sanjay Singh has direct connections with him and he only introduced Manish Sisodia to Dinesh Arora...If this is vendetta politics as the AAP party is claiming, then why is the Congress party supporting this proceeding," he claimed.
Also read: Kejriwal says ED will find nothing at Sanjay Singh's house, 'Before 2024 defeat…'
AAP has alleged the Enforcement Directorate's action against one of its most senior leaders was the consequence of BJP's vendetta politics. It said the raid took place as Singh kept questioning the Adani Group's activities in the parliament.
The opposition often accuses the BJP government of providing undue benefits to some industrialists at the expense of the public.
“Sanjay Singh kept on raising questions on the issue of Adani and this is why the raids are being conducted at his residence. The central agencies found nothing earlier and won't find anything today either. First, they conducted raids at the residence of some journalists yesterday and today, raids conducted at Sanjay Singh's residence,” AAP spokesperson Reena Gupta said.
Also read: ED raids underway at AAP MP Sanjay Singh's Delhi residence in liquor policy case
The Delhi government scrapped its novel excise policy last year after L-G VK Saxena recommended a CBI probe into the allegation that favours were accorded to certain liquor dealers in exchange for bribes.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Pramod Tiwari accused the government of having a "dictatorial attitude".
"This (BJP) government is adopting a dictatorial attitude and creating an atmosphere of coercion, repression, fear and terror against leaders from the INDIA alliance...The way the raids are being conducted at Sanjay Singh's residence is condemnable," he was quoted as saying by the news agency ANI.
AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj said the authorities won't find anything at Singh's house.
"This is such a fictitious scam in which an investigation has been going on for the last 15 months... ED and CBI have conducted raids in at least 1000 places but not even ₹1 has been recovered from anywhere...They will not get anything at the residence of Sanjay Singh as well...BJP is losing the elections, this is the truth," he said.
SP leader Ghanshyam Tiwari said," This is a new dictatorship model of BJP, PM Modi, Amit Shah and Adani. In the Parliament MP's microphones are muted and MPs are suspended."
RJD MP Manoj Jha prophesied such raids would continue till the 2024 elections.
"It is sad, but not surprising. Now this series will continue till the election. PM Modi and Amit Shah have made the formal announcement for the 2024 elections. Yesterday, a raid was on NewsClick and all the journalists, today on Sanjay Singh," he said.
BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa accused Sanjay Singh of playing the "main role in the liquor scam".
"In the liquor scam case his name was continuously coming. Dinesh Arora also said in his statements that Sanjay Singh was the one who introduced Manish Sisodia to the other people who were involved in the scam... Sanjay Singh had a main role in the liquor scam. This was the reason that he always used to say that ED would raid my house too... AAP is ending due to its corruption," he said.
With inputs from ANI, PTI
