BJP attacks Kejriwal, Mann over excise 'scam'

TheThem The BJP on Sunday alleged that the excise scam does not stop at Manish Sisodia's doorstep but is linked to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann.

BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla cited a Delhi court's remarks while rejecting the bail plea of Aam Aadmi Party leader Sisodia to claim that they have exposed "corruption degrees" of Kejriwal and Mann.

The BJP's degree barb at the top AAP leaders came amid Kejriwal's relentless attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the latter's education qualification. It has been established that bribe has been paid, Poonawalla said, citing the court's comments. What the court said was not its observations but findings, he claimed, noting that it prima facie held Sisodia "architect" of the suspected scam.

Reading from the court's order, which also include assertions of probe agency CBI, Poonawalla said it is clear that the "setting and planning" for framing the controversial liquor policy, now junked, happened at the level of Kejriwal. A liquor wholesaler was allegedly forced to surrender his license by using the Punjab excise department as the businessman had interest in that state also, he said while taking aim at Mann.

"The scam does not stop at Sisodia's doorstep but goes up to Kejriwal and Mann. It has exposed corruption degrees of Kejriwal and Mann," the BJP spokesperson alleged. "There are three findings by the court: prima facie, a 100 crore bribe has been taken by Sisodia. The liquor scam is not of an individual, rather it's institutional. The investigations are being hampered," he said.