NEW DELHI: Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Ch. Anil Kumar said that the Kejriwal Government called a Special Session of the Delhi Assembly today to whitewash the corruption charges against Excise Minister Manish Sisodia in the implementation of the new Liquor Policy, but Sisodia could not give any convincing answer to the corruption in the liquor deal and his involvement in the liquor scam in his lengthy speech in the Assembly.
He said that Sisodia was rattled, as he has been cornered from all sides, with the CBI filing an FIR against him as the No 1 accused. He said that Sisodia, whose name was not listed among the 10 speakers in the special session, did not answer about the corruption behind the liquor policy, and how black-listed liquor companies in Delhi and Madhya Pradesh were given liquor licenses for both wholesale and retail trade. He said that Sisodia tried to play the “victim card”, but his guilt was all too apparent, throughout his speech in the Assembly.
Addressing a press conference at the DPCC office, Rajiv Bhawan here today, Kumar said that Kejriwal and Sisodia might claim that they did not receive any kickbacks, but they cannot erase file notings related to the liquor policy, with which the CBI has cornered Sisodia, leading to raids in his house and office.
He said that Sisodia’s claim that license fees went up in the new liquor policy did not cut much ice, as during the Congress regime, the liquor trade was run by Government agencies transparently, and did not sell out the liquor trade to the liquor mafia, which has fetched thousands of crores in commission to Kejrwial and Sisodia.
He said it was surprising that instead of asking questions to corner Sisodia and Kejriwal in the deliberations, the BJP members walked out to spare embarrassment to the corrupt involved in the liquor scam.
Kumar said that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who had refused to call special sessions of the Assembly to discuss important issues in the past, called a Special Session today as his various propaganda to divert attention from the liquor scam and the CBI probe, did not create any ripple, as nobody believed his lies.
He said that no excuse can save Sisodia from going to jail now, as he was the No 1 accused in the FIR filed by the CBI. He said that Sisodia invoking the name of Bhagat Singh to prove his “innocence” could not impress any, as Bhagat Singh became a martyr at a young age, and he did not deal in liquor. Similarly, Kejriwal has removed Gandhi’s photo, but he goes to the Gandhi Ashram when he visits Gujarat, which exposes the man’s duplicity.
Kumar said that when the new Liquor Policy was formulated and implemented, only Delhi Congress had raised objections and carried out relentless protests, including a gherao of Kejriwal’s residence though it was Covid-19 pandemic time, but BJP was silent then, as the liquor cartels had given donations to the BJP and bribed their leaders to keep mum.
He said that if the liquor policy was the “best”, as claimed by Kejriwal and Sisodia, then why was it withdrawn after 8 months, when the Lt. Governor ordered a CBI probe in to the liquor scam, about which Delhi Congress had complained to the LG and the Police Commissioner in the very beginning.
Kumar said that when Congress was in power, Delhi had been turned into one of the best green and clean cities in the world, but the Kejriwal Government has turned this beautiful city into “Nashe Ki Rajdhani”, to tarnish its name the world over.