Anurag Thakur slams Manish Sisodia, AAP over alleged liquor ‘corruption’

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New
Delhi,
Aug
19:
Information
and
Broadcasting
Minister
Anurag
Thakur
on
Friday
dubbed
Delhi
Deputy
Chief
Minister
Manish
Sisodia
as
an
“excuse
minister” after
the
latter
claimed
he
was
“paying
the
price
for
honesty”
as
the
CBI
searched
his
premises
in
connection
with
the
excise
scam.

Sisodia,
who
also
holds
the
excise
portfolio
in
the
Delhi
government,
said
the
agency
probe
against
him
was
to
derail
his
work
to
improve
education
facilities
in
the
national
capital.

Responding
to
it,
Thakur
said
in
a
statement,
“The
excise
minister
has
become
excuse
minister”.

“Today,
the
issue
is
of
liquor
licenses
and
corruption
involved
in
it.
The
minister
concerned
is
Manish
Sisodia.
He
reversed
the
excise
policy
the
day
the
probe
was
handed
over
to
the
CBI.
Why
was
this
step
taken,
because
there
was
corruption
in
the
issuance
of
liquor
licenses,”
Thakur
said.

Arvind
Kejriwal
on
raid
at
Sisodia’s
house:
‘We
welcome
CBI’

The
minister
said
the
fear
of
a
CBI
probe
had
compelled
Delhi
Chief
Minister
Arvind
Kejriwal
and
Sisodia
to
link
the
searches
by
the
central
investigative
agency
to
education
facilities
in
the
national
capital.

“The
fear
of
probe
compels
Arvind
Kejriwal
to
speak
about
education.
This
is
not
about
education,
but
about
the
excise
policy.
Don’t
think
of
people
as
fools
and
stop
your
addresses
to
the
nation,”
Thakur
said.

The
minister
hoped
that
Sisodia
would
not
claim
to
be
suffering
from
memory
loss
as
his
ministerial
colleague
Satyendra
Jain,
who
has
been
arrested
in
connection
with
a
money
laundering
case.

“People
seek
answers.
The
corruption
in
excise
policy
has
revealed
the
true
face
of
Arvind
Kejriwal
and
Manish
Sisodia.
They
talked
about
fighting
corruption
and
not
entering
politics.
Not
only
did
they
venture
into
politics,
but
are
also
now
involved
in
corruption,”
the
senior
BJP
leader
said.

There
should’ve
been
10
CBI
raids:
Cong
on
CBI
raid
on
Delhi
Dy
CM
Sisodia

The
CBI
on
Friday
morning
carried
out
searches
at
the
residences
of
Sisodia
and
IAS
officer
Arava
Gopi
Krishna
at
19
other
locations
after
registering
an
FIR
in
connection
with
the
Delhi
excise
policy
case,
officials
said.
Last
month,
Delhi
Lt
Governor
V
K
Saxena
recommended
a
CBI
probe
into
the
Arvind
Kejriwal-led
government’s
Excise
Policy,
2021-22
over
alleged
violation
of
rules
and
procedural
lapses.
The
Delhi
Government
rolled
back
the
policy
soon
after.