New Delhi (The Hawk): With less than 10 days until voting in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is attempting to capitalise on the fact that Manish Sisodia's name was omitted from the first chargesheet submitted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the Excise Policy scam.
The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has often asserted that Manish Sisodia was at the centre of the alleged anomalies and the Excise Policy fraud as a whole. However, not even his name was mentioned in the CBI's chargesheet.
The public will now judge the party on this in the MCD polls on December 4, according to an AAP source, who described it as "like a certificate of honesty for the party."
The source claimed that Manish Sisodia, who had previously been named as the first culprit, was not even mentioned in the chargesheet.
Gopal Rai, the state chairperson for the AAP in Delhi, claimed that for the past six months, both the BJP leadership and the federal government have claimed that there is sufficient proof against Sisodia.
"However, despite all of this, Sisodia's name was not even mentioned in the chargesheet because there is no evidence. In advance of the MCD and Gujarat elections, a plot was hatched to malign Sisodia and the party.
"The BJP was in a position where they would lose terribly in the MCD elections in March, so they delayed it under the guise of a merger of the MCD. A few months later, when Arvind Kejriwal began campaigning in Gujarat and the party was enjoying significant support there, the BJP launched a campaign to disparage Manish Sisodia in an effort to divert attention from the AAP, the speaker claimed.
The AAP leaders spoke to the media on Friday following the CBI's filing of its chargesheet and emphasised the party's sincerity. They also targeted the BJP for making up tales to discredit the group.
"The BJP was misleading the entire country for the last six months to malign AAP and the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government," AAP leader Atishi claimed in a briefing.
AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj stated in a different briefing that the BJP should apologise to Delhi's schoolchildren and their parents for targeting Sisodia.
As the scandal continued, Manish Sisodia demanded an apology from the Prime Minister and the dismissal of the Chief Secretary and Lieutenant Governor of Delhi.
In a tweet, Delhi's chief minister Arvind Kejriwal stated: "Manish Sisodia's name is not even in the ED's chargesheet. If Sisodia, who helped India become known for its educational revolution, was falsely accused, shouldn't PM Narendra Modi apologise to the nation? Will the nation advance if those who carry out good deeds are imprisoned?
Kejriwal stated to the media on Saturday that "the MCD election has now become apparent."
"Now, the populace must choose between 10 works by Arvind Kejriwal and 10 BJP videos. On December 4, the MCD elections would be decided by the general population, he announced on Saturday.
Even while the party is emphasising the need to remove Sisodia's name from the CBI chargesheet, the civic body election appears to centre on two issues: the three "trash mountains" and the much-discussed AAP's "honesty."
(Inputs from Agencies)