NEW DELHI: Hours after Manish Sisodia blamed former LG Anil Baijal for his stand on the new excise policy on Saturday, BJP accused the deputy CM of trying to divert the attention from the irregularities when the noose was tightening with the incumbent LG recommending a CBI probe into the implementation of the policy. BJP said Sisodia was using Baijal as a “sacrificial lamb”, with party spokesperson Sambit Patra wondering why Sisodia had kept mum so far if the former LG had changed the liquor policy to favour a few traders. “The Kejriwal government is blaming (the former) LG because it needs a sacrificial lamb with the CBI probe going to uncover the irregularities,” Patra said at a press conference. Calling Sisodia’s move a “political stunt”, BJP said it would not save the AAP leader from going to jail because there were also questions about the role of close associates of CM Kejriwal such as Amit Arora and Dinesh Arora who had allegedly been given the bulk of liquor licences under that excise policy. BJP’s IT department head Amit Malviya shared a post on social media describing how the liquor cartel was given a licence fee waiver citing Covid conditions and how the new excise policy was withdrawn when the LG ordered a CBI inquiry. Manjinder Singh Sirsa added that the liquor policy was scripted by close associates of Kejriwal like Arora and Vijay Nair. Sirsa claimed Nair left for the US soon after Satyendar Jain’s arrest. “Manish Sisodia’s press conference to defend himself in the massive liquor excise scam in Delhi just shows that he knows that the noose is tightening around him… He should prepare to join Satyendar Jain in jail as the long arm of law catches up,” Malviya tweeted. Sirsa told TOI, “It is weird and opportunist that after having boasted about the subsidies under the new excise policy comprising a great reform by Sisodia, he is now blaming the ex-LG after the corruption has been caught. If the then LG was responsible for the loss of exchequer due to the new excise policy, will Sisodia and Kejriwal give credit to him for the other works about which they keep boasting?” “Sisodia has admitted that the exchequer suffered losses. Until now, he was claiming the government had earned Rs 900 crore from the new excise policy. Today, he admitted it earned barely Rs 300 crore,” he added. He also alleged that both Kejriwal and Sisodia had deleted photos with Arora they had on social media accounts. Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta also intensified the attack on Delhi government, saying, “Under the new policy, increasing the commission from 2.5% to 12% only proves that it was being done to make money. BJP has been opposing the new excise policy from day one, it is disastrous for Delhi.” Leader of the opposition Ramvir Singh Bidhuri claimed he had declared in the assembly that the policy was flawed. “Today, it is clear the policy was wrong. Opening of liquor shops in non-conforming areas violated the Master Plan and when raising the issue in the Assembly, I had challenged the government to prove me wrong,” said Bidhuri.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/manish-sisodia-using-ex-lg-anil-baijal-as-sacrificial-lamb-bjp/articleshow/93399362.cms
