‘You Have Shamed Anna Hazare’: BJP Hits Out At AAP, Says Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain Should Have Quit Earlier

New Delhi: The BJP has launched a stinging attack on Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party and said that former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who has been arrested by the CBI in connection with the liquor scam case, should have quit earlier. While addressing a press conference in the national capital, BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said that “AAP leaders have defamed the anti-corruption agitation led by social activist and Kejriwal’s mentor Anna Hazare.”

"The two AAP leaders – Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain - should have resigned earlier. Jain has resigned several months after his arrest and Sisodia should have resigned at the time when the allegations against them came out," the former law minister said. Describing the liquor scam case in Delhi as a "fixed textbook case of corruption", Prasad said the BJP will raise the issue in every corner of the country.

Prasad added that the Supreme court on Tuesday refused to "grant any indulgence to one of the "most prominent faces of the anti-corruption movement led by Anna Hazare". "This clearly indicates the merit of Sisodia's plea that the apex court refused to grant any relief," Prasad said. While describing AAP as a party of "cut, commission and corruption," Prasad said that Sisodia and Jain should have been sacked when the graft allegations against them had first come to light.

Deputy Chief Minister Sisodia was arrested by the CBI on Sunday evening in connection with alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi liquor policy for 2021-22, while Jain is lodged in Tihar Jail in a money laundering case since May last year.

Hitting out at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and its national convener Kejriwal, senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said people who claimed to be the "flag bearers of the fight against corruption" have ensured governance that "increases the number of alcohol users in Delhi".

Without naming AAP directly, Prasad said he thought that cut and commission was the legacy of only one political party. "But today, I must say that 3C-cut, commission and corruption also applies for Kejriwal's party," Prasad said and added that AAP leaders have defamed the anti-corruption agitation led by Anna Hazare.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain the bail plea of Sisodia, who is in CBI custody in connection with the excise policy case. Sisodia is perhaps the only education minister in the country who is also a "liquor minister", the BJP leader said.

Referring to Kejriwal, Prasad said that during the Gujarat elections, he claimed that the Intelligence Bureau was reporting a big win for the AAP, and on Monday, he claimed that the CBI was not in favour of Sisodia's arrest. "I am amazed at the number of lies spewed by Kejriwal for the commission from liquor," he said.

In a dramatic turn of events, arrested Delhi ministers Manish Sisodia and Satyendra Jain resigned from the Arvind Kejriwal-led cabinet amidst BJP's persistent onslaught against the AAP over the corruption charges against its leaders. The resignations came minutes after the Supreme Court refused to entertain the bail plea of Sisodia, who is in CBI custody in the now-scrapped excise policy case, saying it would set a "wrong precedent" and efficacious alternative remedies were available to him.

Sisodia's portfolios have been given to Kailash Gahlot and Raaj Kumar Anand till the appointment of new ministers. Anand, who has been given the charge of education, land and building, vigilance, services, tourism, art culture and language, labour, employment, health and industries in addition to his existing portfolios, has said that the objective of his party to provide good education and health facilities to people of the city will remain unchanged.