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Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia ‘may be arrested in a day or two’: Arvind Kejriwal
Sisodia is among those named in an FIR lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with alleged irregularities in the implementation of the Delhi excise policy
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said he feared deputy CM Manish Sisodia may be put behind bars ‘sooner than anticipated’, following days of drama surrounding the new excise policy in the national capital.
“Earlier I thought they would put Sisodiaji behind bars in two to three months. But looking at your response here, I think he will be arrested in the next two to three days,” Kejriwal said while addressing an event in Gujarat’s Bhavnagar on Tuesday.
He and Sisodia, who is also the Delhi education minister, were on a two-day visit to the poll-bound state since Monday.
Sisodia is among those named in an FIR lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with alleged irregularities in the implementation of the Delhi excise policy.
“I have got the world’s best education minister for you. When we came into power in Delhi, government schools had cracked walls, water was seeping through them, the performance of students was very poor and there was a lack of a proper education system. But all of you can see the change in the past five years,” he said.
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Kejriwal said that private schools were audited and many of them were forced to return the excess fees collected from students.
“The success story of Delhi’s education sector recently made the front page of top US newspaper The New York Times. Along with Sisodia, students of Delhi government schools too featured in the photograph. When they (opposition) learnt about this, they tried to get their leader’s picture published by offering $1 million. But their offer got rejected. So, they sweetened the offer by agreeing to pay $100 million. They were told by NYT that they were not for sale,” Kejriwal claimed without naming any person or party.
Sisodia in his address said the CBI was tightening its noose around him due to the progress AAP made in Gujarat.
“The rising enthusiasm and anger in Gujarat are the reasons why the CBI is tightening its noose around me. But don’t worry... I am an honest person and I want to assure everybody here that I have done nothing wrong,” he said.
Kejriwal reiterated his poll promise of generating 1 million employment opportunities and offering a stipend of ₹3,000 per month if AAP is voted to power.
“I guarantee that every youth in Gujarat will be provided employment opportunities if we come to power. Till the time they get employment, we will give them a stipend of ₹3,000 per month. We will ensure that 80% of the jobs in the private sector are given to residents of Gujarat. We will introduce a law to enforce it... After Delhi and Punjab, Gujarat is now seeking a change, a big change,” said Kejriwal.
Kejriwal said his government has already created jobs for 1 million people in Delhi, while Sisodia added that AAP created 200,000 government jobs after coming to power in Delhi, and another 1 million in the private sector through government initiatives. “This does not include the placements done by the private companies directly,” Sisodia said.
Earlier in the day, Kejriwal tweeted that the BJP in Gujarat is very scared of AAP’s progress. “According to sources, BJP is planning to replace the Gujarat BJP president C R Paatil. Is BJP indeed so scared of AAP?” he said.
“What sources is Kejriwal referring to? The same ones that said Modiji was losing the Varanasi seat in 2014 general elections from where Kejriwal also contested? Or the ones that told Kejriwal that the Goa CM is being replaced out of fear of AAP? Are they the same sources that said AAP was getting majority in Uttarakhand and that BJP was scared of them?” said Zubin Ashara, state media co-head for Gujarat BJP.
