On 9th February 2023, the Delhi unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party took a march from the ITO to the Secretariat to protest against the AAP government in Delhi for the alleged snooping by the Feedback Unit established by the Arvind Kejriwal government. BJP workers flagged posters and placards with slogans against the Delhi government and the alleged snooping near the Delhi secretariat. A large police force was deployed to ensure law and order.
BJP demanded the removal of Delhi’s deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia from his post over the alleged ‘snooping’ on politicians by AAP’s Feedback Unit (FBU).
It has been alleged that the feedback unit formed by Arvind Kejriwal’s government is spying on the opposition leaders from BJP rather than strengthening the vigilance. The BJP asked why the state would need a feedback unit when there is already an anti-corruption unit acting in Delhi. Besides, questions were also raised on the operations and motives of this unit.
Delhi BJP working president Virendra Sachdeva claimed that not just opposition leaders, the Feedback Unit was also snooping on journalists, businessmen, and senior officers. Calling it a ‘very serious’ matter, Sachdeva said BJP will continue to fight till both Kejriwal and Sisodia are in jail.
#BreakingNews
— News18 India (@News18India) February 9, 2023
दिल्ली में ‘जासूसी’ पर जंग, ITO से दिल्ली सचिवालय तक मार्च. AAP पर जासूसी कराने का आरोप.#Spying #AAP #BJP #Protest #ITO @imonicathakur @ManavLive pic.twitter.com/diw7ftEP68
In 2015, Aam Aadmi Party came to power in the Delhi assembly. Soon after that, it formed a feedback unit. The newly formed team was supposed to inform the government about updates on various activities in different departments so that the government functions smoothly. Recently, the Central Bureau of Investigation submitted a report to the vigilance department of the Delhi government in which it stated that the feedback unit was involved in the political snooping of the opposition leaders as well as some of the AAP leaders.
The FBU, as it was known in official correspondence, also gathered “political intelligence” linked to “political activities of persons, political entities, and political matters affecting the political interest of AAP,” according to a preliminary investigation by the CBI on a complaint of an officer of the directorate of vigilance of the Delhi government in 2016. It has been alleged that the unit snooped on Union Ministers, MPs, the Lieutenant Governor’s office, media houses, leading businessmen and even judges of courts.
The FBU examined more than 700 instances in the eight months that it was operational, according to CBI’s report, however, it is unclear if it still exists or has been dissolved. According to a preliminary review of the reports it produced, 60% of them were purportedly about political intelligence and other topics unrelated to vigilance concerns, the investigative agency stated in its preliminary inquiry report.
On January 12, 2023, the CBI submitted a report to the vigilance department asking for permission from the appropriate official—in this case, lieutenant governor VK Saxena—to file a case against deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia under the Prevention of Corruption Act and various sections of the Indian Penal Code.
However, the Aam Aadmi Party has denied the allegations, and said that there is no evidence to support the allegations. Calling the allegations politically motivated, AAP said that agencies like CBI and ED should investigate the relationships between PM Narendra Modi and Gautam Adani, instead of probing the snooping charges. The party said that BJP is spreading blatant lies against deputy CM Manish Sisodia.
