While Manish Sisodia equated BJP-ruled Centre to a 'serial killer', Arvind Kejriwal said excise raids are a result of BJP's fears over Gujarat polls.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday said the Bharatiya Janata Party (NJP)-run Union government is acting like a serial killer to eliminate state government and that the investigative agencies' actions in the alleged excise scam are a result of BJP's fear regarding upcoming Gujarat elections.
AAP leader and Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia further termed the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) FIR against him "completely fake" and said it's based on "mere sources". Speaking in the Delhi Assembly, he added the CBI does not have proof of any corruption in the excise policy.
Sisodia is among the 15 people accused by the CBI in the alleged irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22. His residence in Delhi was among the 31 locations raided by CBI across seven states and Union territories on August 19. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has also started an investigation in the case.
Sisodia said, "The FIR against me is completely fake. I have committed no corruption...They [BJP] are acting like serial killer to eliminate other state governments. The effort they are putting to murder state governments, they should have put that much effort into building schools and hospitals."
He further said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is an insecure person and linked the raids to the alleged insecurity.
Sisodia said, "Prime Minister Modi feels insecure seeing good work by others. I have not seen a more insecure person than him. Had Arvind Kejriwal been the prime minister and I the education minister of a state, he would not have done something like this."
He said CBI officers searched his clothes and even his children's clothes during the 14-hour raid at his house but found nothing.
Sisodia also repeated his earlier claim that the BJP had offered him the post of Delhi's Chief Minister if he switched parties. Earlier, the AAP had also claimed that the BJP was working to topple AAP's government. It alleged that the BJP had approached AAP MLAs with offers of Rs 5 crore to switch.
Sisodia said, "They told me to leave Kejriwal, come to BJP and all cases will be shut. But I said I have not done anything wrong and I will be released by court. I have not come here to become the chief minister. You cannot break me and I am not ready to budge in front of them. I assure people that you have bought us with your votes and now no power can buy us."
Besides Sisodia, AAP national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also attacked Modi on Friday and alleged the recent raids are linked to upcoming elections in Gujarat.
Kejriwal said, "The BJP's fortress in Gujarat is under threat and is crumbling now. ED, CBI raids on us are due to the upcoming polls in Gujarat. Vested interests are now trying to topple the Delhi government. They toppled governments in Manipur, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra. There is a serial killer on the prowl in the city."
(With PTI inputs)