Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday claimed that most of the Central Bureua of Investigation officers were opposed to arresting his deputy Manish Sisodia but did so due to “political pressure”.
Bharatiya Janata Party MP Manoj Tiwari hit back at Kejriwal, saying everyone knew what the AAP national convener wrote or said was “fabricated”.
The CBI on Sunday arrested Sisodia in connection with alleged corruption in the now-scrapped excise policy relating to the sale of alcohol.
"I am told that most CBI officers were against Manish's arrest. All of them have huge respect for him and there is no evidence against him. But the political pressure to arrest him was so high that they had to obey their political masters," Kejriwal said in a tweet.
Quote-tweeting Kejriwal, BJP MP Tiwari accused him of fabricating facts regarding Sisodia's arrest and alleged that the Delhi chief minister had even lied about an IB report at the time of the Gujarat assembly elections.
"Similar kinds of fake news was spread by you regarding IB in Gujarat. Now everyone knows what you write and say is fabricated. Let the law take its course. Liquor Minister's liquor scam probe will grow. This is your fear," he said.
During the Gujarat polls in October 2022, Kejriwal had said that according to an IB report, if elections were held at that time, the AAP would form the government albeit by a thin margin.
Sisodia's arrest, one of the high-profile actions against an opposition leader, came after that of Satyendar Jain, Delhi's then health minister, in June last year. Both ministers have led what the Aam Aadmi Party describes as the successful transformation of Delhi's education and health services, contributing to the party's popularity and continued electoral success.
