Liquor Scam: Lt Gov Recommends Probe against Delhi Deputy CM, Kejriwal Calls it “Political Vendetta”
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, July 22: A battle line has been drawn between the Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and his newly-appointed lieutenant governor Vinai Saxena after the latter ordered a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the alleged “liquor scam” ending at the doorsteps of the deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia. Responding to Saxena’s sensational allegations against Sisodia regarding corruption and patronage to liquor mafia, Kejriwal on Friday said the allegations were “totally false.” He claimed that Sisodia was working very hard to strengthen Delhi’s education system, earning praise and electoral support because of it, which is why the BJP government at the centre was trying to defame them.
Earlier in the day, Saxena send his recommendation to the CBI for a probe into the alleged “liquor scam” in which Kejriwal said was “politically motivated.” It was the latest in the long standing feud between the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi and the BJP-appointed Lieutenant Governor despite change of faces. A media release from Saxena’s office alleged several violations of established law “in addition to deliberate and gross procedural lapses to provide post tender undue benefits to liquor licensees”.
The AAP claimed Saxena was acting on the direction of the Centre, which was desperate to stem the party’s rising popularity. Directly naming Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, the Lieutenant Governor said the report indicated “substantial” financial favours at the top political level. The new excise policy was implemented “with the sole aim” of benefitting private liquor barons for financial benefits to individuals at the highest echelons of the government leading up to Manish Sisodia, the Lieutenant Governor alleged.
“Minister In-charge of the Excise Department, Manish Sisodia took and got executed, major decisions/actions in violation of the statutory provisions and the notified Excise Policy that had huge financial implications,” Saxena’s statement said. He also accused Sisodia of extending undue financial favours to the liquor licensees much after the tenders had been awarded, causing “huge losses” to the ex-chequer.
The AAP slamming the centre accused it of creating trouble for political vendetta. Party spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj said prime minister Narendra Modi and his party were “jealous” of Arvind Kejriwal and AAP’s recent electoral successes and would do anything to stop them.
“We knew that BJP and PM Modi were nervous after AAP’s victory in Punjab,” Bhardwaj said, adding that the Centre had made “all possible efforts to try to stop Arvind Kejriwal from working in Delhi 2016 and is doing the same again.”
BJP leaders have welcomed the LG’s suggestion, saying they have also been demanding a probe into the policy. In a press conference by the party, Union Minister and BJP leader Meenakshi Lekhi attacked Kejriwal, asking him a set of questions “before he gave himself certificates of honesty.” She said the Delhi government enacted the liquor policy illegally and it was a “fraud on the people of the national capital”. Ms Lekhi then asked a series of pointed questions using specific details from the LG’s statement.
She pointed out that the new Excise policy 2021-22 was implemented from November 17 last year under which retail licences were given to private bidders for 849 vends across the city divided into 32 zones. But many liquor stores failed to open for being located in non-confirming areas of the city. Several such vends were sealed by the municipal corporations. The BJP and Congress had strongly opposed the policy and lodged complaint with the Lieutenant Governor as well as central agencies for a probe into it.
Kejriwal in an online press briefing said he had known Sisodia for 22 years and he was a “hardcore honest” man. “I came to know that a case has been sent to the CBI against Manish Sisodia and they are going to arrest him in a few days. It is a completely fake case. There is not even an iota of truth in this case,” he said.
Without mentioning the CBI probe demand, Kejriwal trained his guns at the Centre alleging that the AAP leaders were being framed in made up cases to stop them from working. “The new rule in India seems to be that first it is decided who has to be jailed and then that person is targetted relentlessly with all sorts of fabricated findings and lies,” he said in a jibe at the Centre. Several opposition parties have accused PM Modi-led government of using investigating agencies for political vendetta.
Calling BJP leaders “children of Savarkar”, he said his party leaders were the children of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh who refused to bow down before the British and chose to be hung to death instead. “We are not afraid of going to jail,” he said. Kejriwal stressed that it was the popularity and electoral success of AAP because of their Delhi model of development which scared the Centre because of which they keep attacking the party and imprison their MLAs.
“They want to stop the phenomenal work being done in Delhi. Singapore has invited mayors from across the world and asked me to come and show them how it is done. That is how good the work in Delhi is. But they want to stop all this. They want to harm us in order to keep looting you,” he said.
His statement referred to Saxena earlier this week blocked Kejriwal’s Singapore visit. The party had hit back with Sisodia terming the move “mean politics” at work. Kejriwal was invited for the “World Cities Summit” back in June by Singapore High Commissioner Simon Wong. He is expected to address the meet on August 1 but the lieutenant governor has refused him clearance.
