The fallout of the CBI raids on deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and the registration of an FIR against him was discussed at a meeting of the political affairs committee (PAC) of AAP, which was chaired by chief minister Kejriwal, national convenor of the party, on Wednesday. Kejriwal will be meeting his party MLAs on Thursday.
This will be followed by a special session of the assembly on Friday which will discuss the “misuse of CBI and ED to threaten AAP leaders and break the government”. In fact, the PAC resolution condemned the alleged misuse of government agencies and called out what it dubbed BJP’s attempts to poach AAP MLAs by offering them cash.
BJP, meanwhile, was relentless in keeping the AAP government under pressure on the “violations” in the new excise policy, alleging that AAP received huge bribes in lieu of liquor licences just before the Punjab assembly polls.
Addressing a press conference, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra accused Kejriwal of being the “kingpin” of the liquor policy “scam” and alleged that he did not sign a single file in an attempt to avoid investigation. The party alleged that the Delhi government ignored recommendations of an expert panel set up to reform the liquor trade in the capital and gave licences to companies that paid “hefty commissions” to AAP.
“Manish (Sisodia) ji, you may be the world’s best education minister, but you should immediately convene a press conference and disclose what you were doing in your capacity as the excise minister,” said Patra. “Is it not true that you ignored the recommendations of the panel on the retail and wholesale liquor business? On whose direction did you do so?”