New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party on Sunday reacted strongly to CBI arresting Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in the Delhi Excise Policy Scam case. Sisodia was questioned for 8 hours on Sunday before the CBI arrested him with agency officials claiming that his answers "were not satisfactory".
AAP chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called the arrest "dirty politics". "Manish is innocent. His arrest is dirty politics. There is a lot of anger among the people due to the arrest of Manish. Everyone is watching. People are understanding everything. People will respond to this. This will boost our spirits further. Our struggle will get stronger," Kejriwal tweeted.
"Black day for democracy! BJP's CBI arrested the world's best education minister @msisodia in a fake case, who is shaping the future of lakhs of children. BJP has made this arrest due to political rivalry," AAP Delhi tweeted in Hindi shortly after Sisodia was arrested.
Sanjeev Jha, Delhi AAP spokesperson, in another tweet called the arrest "dictatorial". "@msisodia G's arrest is dictatorial. Modi ji did not do well by arresting the best education minister of the country. This dictatorship will end soon," Jha tweeted. Briefing the media after Sisodia's arrest, AAP leader Atishi said BJP was afraid of Kejriwal and AAP, and even after failing to provide any evidence against Sisodia, they still went ahead and arrested him.
Sisodia will be produced before the court on Monday. Prior to appearing before the CBI today, Sisodia said false cases are being lodged against him as Prime Minister Narendra Modi was "afraid" of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. "Conspiracies are being hatched by the CBI and ED and false cases are being lodged against our party leaders because PM Narendra Modi is afraid of CM Arvind Kejriwal's rising popularity. As AAP grows further, BJP will continue to slap false cases on us. We are not afraid of the CBI, ED and their false cases," Sisodia said, claiming that people were starting to regard the AAP as an alternative to the BJP.
Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal too had hinted Sisodia's arrest and said it was a matter of pride. "God is with you Manish. The blessings of lakhs of children and their parents are with you. When you go to jail for the country and the society, it is not a curse but a matter of pride. I pray to god that you return from jail soon. Delhi's children, their parents, and all of us will wait for you," Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi.
