Delhi News Live Updates: CBI prepares more summons in excise policy probe, EOW likely to close enquiry

Delhi news today, August 21, 2022: In the escalating war of words between AAP in Delhi and BJP at Centre, Manish Sisodia says the 2024 Lok Sabha elections will be Modi vs Kejriwal, while BJP calls the AAP chief “kingpin in the liquor scam”.

By: Express Web Desk
New Delhi | Updated: August 21, 2022 8:53:27 am
manish sisodia liveDelhi news live: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia addresses the media on Saturday, a day after the CBI raided his residence for over 14 hours. (Express photo by Praveen Khanna)

Delhi news live updates (August 21):  The CBI on Saturday began questioning people in connection with its probe into alleged irregularities in the rollout of the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 which was withdrawn recently by the AAP government. This development came a day after the agency conducted searches at 31 locations including the home of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

Meanwhile, Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) is likely to close its “preliminary enquiry” in the case, as learnt by The Indian Express. It had initiated the inquiry after receiving a complaint alleging illegal distribution of zonal liquor licences to manufacturing companies and blacklisted firms in violation of terms and conditions of the excise policy. Sources said that after the EOW came to know of the CBI FIR, it discussed closing the enquiry.

With the CBI searches escalating the war of words between the BJP at the Centre and the AAP in Delhi, Manish Sisodia said on Saturday that he may be arrested “in the next two-four days”. Mounting a direct attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for trying to “stop” the Arvind Kejriwal government’s “good work” especially in the field of education and health, Sisodia told a press conference that “we are not scared” and “the next election (for Lok Sabha in 2024) will be Modi versus Arvind Kejriwal”.

The BJP hit back, accusing Kejriwal of being the “kingpin in the liquor scam”. It said the AAP was trying to divert attention from the “scam” by linking the CBI action to politics since its “real face has been unmasked”. Union Minister Anurag Thakur, who addressed a press conference along with Lok Sabha member Manoj Tiwari and Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta, said: “Manish Sisodia might have now changed the spelling of his name too. Now it is Money Shh.”

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Delhi news live: CBI prepares more summons in excise policy probe, EOW likely to close enquiry; Deputy CM Manish Sisodia says 2024 Lok Sabha polls will be Modi vs Kejriwal; BJP hits back at AAP, calls Arvind Kejriwal "kingpin of the liquor scam". For more updates, follow this space.

08:53 (IST)21 Aug 2022
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The CBI’s move to conduct a raid at Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia’s residence Friday (August 19) in connection with alleged irregularities in the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government’s now-withdrawn new excise policy has followed a string of investigations that the central agency has launched against the AAP ministers and their aides in various cases since 2015.

In a number of these cases so far the CBI has filed chargesheets, even as the agency has also closed several cases for lack of evidence.

AAP in the CBI crosshairs: Delhi ministers face a slew of agency probes since 2015, several slapped ahead of polls

In December 2015, ten months after the AAP had first stormed to power in Delhi by bagging 67 of the total 70 Assembly seats, the CBI raided the office premises of CM Kejriwal’s then principal secretary Rajendar Kumar in a case of alleged corruption. The raid had sparked a major row that saw a livid Kejriwal calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “coward and a psychopath” over it.

A year later, the agency filed a chargesheet against Kumar, alleging he along with other accused entered into a criminal conspiracy and caused a loss of Rs 12 crore to the Delhi government in award of contracts between 2007 and 2015. Its FIR also claimed that the officials had taken “undue benefit” of over Rs 3 crore while awarding the contracts. Kumar later took voluntary retirement from the IAS.

As the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)’s raid at Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia’s residence was underway on Friday, the CM and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal started a media address by congratulating the nation over a front-page news report published by the New York Times on the AAP government’s efforts to improve Delhi’s education system.

Kejriwal then made it clear that the CBI’s action against Sisodia was expected and that his party will not back down from what he increasingly sees as its role: a challenger to the Narendra Modi-led BJP.

BJP’s challenger role in its sights, AAP braces to ride out Sisodia, Jain storm

During his eight-minute address, Kejriwal mentioned the CBI’s raid only once – just to say that the central agency should be allowed to do its job, claiming that they would not find anything against education minister Sisodia.

Since the AAP swept the Punjab Assembly election early this year, thereby becoming only the second party after the Congress to be in power in more than one state, Kejriwal and his party have been more than willing to take on Modi and the BJP head-on.

 

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First published on: 21-08-2022 at 08:52:05 am