The sparring between the Aam Aadmi Party and the BJP entered yet another day amid standoff over the Delhi excise policy and the CBI’s probe against deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and others accused in the case. Earlier in the day, Sisodia targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi amid reports over CBI lookout circular against him. “I am roaming here freely. What is this gimmick Modi ji? Let me know where to come?” he asked.
Here are the latest updates on the row over excise policy:
1. Hours after Sisodia’s fresh jibe, the Delhi unit of the BJP held a presser in the national capital where party leader Adesh Gupta said: “Sisodia ji… the scam that you have done… you won’t get a greeting card for it but a CBI circular.”
2. There has been confusion over whether the circular has been issued or is yet to be issued. While news agency ANI reported that the circular was yet to be issued, some media reports cited the officers saying that no such circular was issued.
3. A CBI lookout circular effectively means that the accused can’t leave the country.
4. Meanwhile, Sisodia slammed the Centre, referring to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. “Today, the country is looking for a leader who can give solutions to inflation, unemployment, and work to make India number one. What can they achieve by targeting Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia zero? The country needs a Prime Minister who thinks about Health and Education, the public will give a ‘look out notice’ to them in 2024 after asking about their huge promises,” he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
5. The BJP, meanwhile, is not relenting in its attacks either. “For the first time in independent India, it has been seen that the education minister is the excise minister. This is not the new excise policy of the Kejriwal government, this is a sinful policy, this is a corrupt policy, this is a tyrannical policy,” Adesh Gupta said on Sunday.
6. BJP national spokesperson, Gaurav Bhatia, further hit out at the rival party, which has taken pride in its anti-corruption policies. “Yeh AAP nahi, Paap hai. (It’s not AAP, but just sins),” he told reporters.
7. Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday morning had tweeted alleging that the Centre is fighting against the states.
8. “At a time when the common man is fighting inflation, crores of youth are unemployed in the country… the central government – in collaboration with all states – should be waging a battle against these issues,” he wrote in a tweet.
9. The AAP has been alleging that nothing was found in the 14-hour-long raids carried out at Sisodia’s home on Friday.
10. The state lost crores, the BJP says, due to the AAP’s excise policy. Meanwhile, ruling party in Delhi says the excise policy was cleared by former LG Anil Baijal, who later took a U-turn on it.
(With inputs from ANI)
