Approached with offer to drop cases if I join BJP, says Manish Sisodia; party seeks proof

NEW DELHI/ AHMEDABAD: Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia claimed on Monday that he was approached by BJP with the offer of all cases against him being closed if he joined the party and created a 'rift' in the Aam Aadmi Party.
"BJP's message has come to me - break AAP and join BJP, will get all CBI ED cases closed. My reply to BJP - I am a Rajput, a descendant of Maharana Pratap.I will cut off my head but will not bow down before the corrupt and conspirators. All the cases against me are false. Do whatever you want to do," Sisodia tweeted in Hindi on Monday morning.

Sisodia, who is accompanying CM Arvind Kejriwal on a two-day tour to Gujarat to reach out to voters ahead of the assembly polls, later said that he was surprised when someone came to him with a message of two offers from BJP.

"The messenger said one was that all big cases registered against him by CBI and Enforcement Directorate would be taken back. The other offer was that I break the party and they would make me chief minister," the deputy CM alleged. "I gave a clear answer to them, saying CM Arvind Kejriwal is my political guru and I have learnt politics from him. I have not come into politics to be CM or PM."

When asked who made him the alleged offer, Sisodia said, "The persons said that they had been entrusted with the task of getting leaders like Mukul Roy, Shuvendu Adhikari, Himanta Biswa Sarma and BJ Panda to join the BJP."
Kejriwal said that Sisodia deserved the Bharat Ratna for improving education standard in Delhi schools, but the central government was instead hounding him for political reasons. "Don't you feel ashamed of asking CBI to raid a man who did wonders in five years, did what existing political parties could not do in 70 years and made government schools the best?" Kejriwal said while talking to the media in Ahmedabad on Monday.

He added, "Manish Sisodia may be arrested. Who knows, I may also be arrested. All this is being done in view of the Gujarat assembly elections."
At a press conference in Delhi, AAP MLA Atishi described Sisodia as a soldier of the party and said he wouldn't ever leave AAP, no matter how many cases were registered against him or he was sent to jail.

"This is not the first instance when BJP tried to use its 'washing machine'. It is their tried and tested formula," jibed Atishi. "They threaten the leaders of parties with CBI-ED raids and then strike a deal with them. The scams will be washed in the washing machine if they join BJP."
AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj similarly alleged that BJP was running a 'political laundry service'. He claimed that leaders were labelled corrupt and ED-CBI raids were ordered against them, but the day they joined BJP, all their sins were cleaned and they became innocent, honest leaders.
True face of ‘Kejriwal model’ decoded: BJP
BJP claimed that the huge loss caused to the state exchequer due to the “excise scam” had “decoded the true face of the Kejriwal Model”. Union minister Anurag Thakur said the only distance chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had covered in these years was from a promise of “swaraj” to “sharab raj” in the capital.
At a press conference on Monday, BJP mocked the claims made by Manish Sisodia that he was offered to join the saffron party in lieu of a “relief ” from the ongoing investigations, saying they would never think of his inclusion in its fold.

“The Kejriwal model has been decoded... All the power to make money, organise publicity with of crores of taxpayers’ money, but zero accountability… and when you get caught, it is always somebody else’s liability,” Thakur told reporters.
The party fired a fresh salvo at Kejriwal and Sisodia, alleging that there were several discrepancies between what was recommended by the panel on excise policy and what was implemented by the AAP government. BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri and party spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia questioned Kejriwal’s “silence” on the corruption charges.
“Earlier, we had given 24 hours to him to respond to the charges. If he’s hardcore honest, why is he not answering the questions being raised? Only one tweet has come up, which is meaningless. We again give 24 hours to Kejriwal to answer questions on charges of corruption in the excise policy,” they said.
Bhatia claimed that a lottery system was to be adopted for awarding of retail vending contracts, but this was not done and the zones were awarded to “some” industrialists. Bidhuri said Sisodia’s claim that he was offered to join BJP was another bid to divert attention from the key issue of corruption. BKP workers, meanwhile, staged a protest outside Kejriwal’s residence, demanding the removal of Sisodia from the cabinet.
The party said it was going to hold “Jan Chaupals” at all the 70 assembly constituencies of Delhi to take the issue of “corruption and financial irregularities” to the people.
Addressing the protestors, Gupta asked why the excise policy was withdrawn if it was helpful in increasing the revenues of Delhi. He alleged that Sisodia was the “culprit of this entire scam” and giving him a place in the cabinet meant promoting corruption.
Bidhuri alleged that 300 liquor vends were opened illegally and that the Delhi government took money from the liquor mafia. Former Union minister and MP Harsh Vardhan said Kejriwal had no explanation for the “corruption” under the new excise policy.
At a joint press conference, Delhi BJP general secretary Harsh Malhotra and vice-president Jaiveer Rana said the party would “Jan Chaupals” in all assembly constituencies from Wednesday.