On Saturday, April 15, 2023, the Bharatiya Janata Party held a press conference in Delhi and implied that Delhi’s chief minister Arvind Kejriwal is the kingpin of the liquor scam in the national capital. BJP leader Gaurav Bhatia, who addressed the press conference, said that the moment Arvind Kejriwal was called for questioning by the CBI, he started trembling with fear. Gaurav Bhatia said that it’s quite clear that Arvind Kejriwal is the kingpin of the liquor scam.
In this press conference, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said, “We have five questions in front of you. You were heading the meeting in which this whole liquor scam was developed. Why should you not be probed? Vijay Nair is the leader of your party. It has also now appeared that you have conversed with Sameer Mahendru who is one of the accused in this case. You talked to him on Facetime through Vijay Nair. You told him that this Vijay Nair is my man. So you also tell us whether you did converse with Sameer Mahendru on the Facetime call?”
Gaurav Bhatia further said, “Our third question is what is your relationship with the liquor traders? Our fourth question is if your liquor policy was so good then why was it withdrawn? We also have the fifth question. In October 2021, your government issued a notice to Sameer Mahendru’s company saying that his companies are blacklisted and he should give an answer within a week. They did file an answer, but what action did the government take against them? It proves that Arvind Kejriwal’s only work is loot, extortion, and corruption. Arvind Kejriwal is a staunch cheater.”
Bhatia added, “If Arvind Kejriwal has guts, he should answer at least one question out of these five questions. But he is a corrupt leader and will not answer any of them. He and AAP leaders will beat around the bush. Manish Sisodia, whom Arvind Kejriwal calls a staunch honest, went to the Supreme Court asking for relief but the court denied it. Then 14 parties went to court saying that agencies were being politically misused. The court also said that there could be no separate rule for politicians.”
Gaurav Bhatia also quoted the court’s observations about Manish Sisodia. He said, “Sessions court rejected Manish Sisodia’s bail on 31st March 2023. The court said in the order – Manish Sisodia called the then excise commissioner personally to grant L1 to Indo Spirit’s Sameer Mahendru. Why will a former liquor minister pressurize the excise commissioner to give a license to a particular trader? It is because Arvind Kejriwal has taken a bribe of Rs 100 crores. And we are not saying this on our own. The court has also mentioned that. It is the same Sameer Mahendru. You can connect the links. Arvind Kejriwal talked to him through Vijay Nair and told him that ‘he is my man, do as per he instructs. Consider it as my instruction only’.”
Gaurav Bhatia further said, “There is another big revelation in this order. A former deputy chief minister who is being called a staunch honest man is destroying his mobile phones which is important evidence. Why he is doing so? When he was interrogated, it was revealed that he had four mobile phones. When agencies asked for his four mobile phones, he provided only one and destroyed the other three. Why? If he was a staunch honest, he would have provided the three other mobile phones. Did he destroy them fearing that Arvind Kejriwal will also be caught? What kind of honesty is this?”
Concluding the address, the BJP spokesperson said, “Most importantly, the court said – thus it is clear from the above discussion that the applicant had played the most important and vital role in the above criminal conspiracy and he had been deeply involved. If you have not done anything and you do not fear anything then go and answer the questions asked by the agencies. Why does one new spokesperson come every other day and beats around the bush? Applying your standards to yourself, you should take a polygraph test. Take a lie detector test. But you won’t do that as you are afraid. If you answer any of the five questions in your press conference, we will continue this press conference and ask you more questions.”
The Central Bureau of Investigation has summoned Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to question him in connection with the Delhi Liquor Policy scam case. According to the news agency ANI, the AAP convenor has been asked to appear before the CBI on 16 April, Sunday.
Senior AAP leader and former Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia has already been arrested in connection with the case. The AAP govt is accused of changing its excise policy to benefit select business houses.
