Police detain an AAP worker during a protest against party leader Manish Sisodia’s arrest, on Monday.
| Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar
The war of words between the Aam Aadmi Party and the BJP continued on Monday, a day after the arrest of senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia. While AAP stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scared of its party chief Arvind Kejriwal, the BJP demanded Mr. Kejriwal’s resignation.
Soon after a special court sent Mr. Sisodia to a five-day CBI custody, the BJP accused AAP of “anarchy and not believing in the Constitution”.
Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri asked Mr. Kejriwal to immediately drop Mr. Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, who is in jail for about nine months in a money laundering case, from his Cabinet. Mr. Bidhuri said that it was “legally and morally incorrect” that Ministers facing serious allegations be retained in the Cabinet.
BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said, “The probe agencies are acting against the corrupt persons under the purview of law, while the Arajak Apradh Party [anarchic criminal party] which neither respects the Constitution nor the court is doing drama and cheap politics since yesterday on the orders of [Chief Minister] Arvind Kejriwal.”
“AAP, through its drama and show of anarchy, has signalled that it will not let the investigation agencies do their jobs. This amounts to obstructing the process of administering justice and contempt of court,” he said.
Meanwhile, AAP held protests across the country in Delhi, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and other States.
‘Not afraid’
“The Aam Aadmi Party is not afraid. We will not bow down, and we will not stop. The Prime Minister is scared of this power. It is not only the power of Arvind Kejriwal, but the power of Aam Aadmi Party workers that the BJP fears. We are ready to sacrifice, and we will fight a long battle,” said AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj.
Reacting to the court’s decision, BJP MP Manoj Tiwari said while the AAP leaders and workers were protesting on the roads, the party did not have anything to say in the courtroom.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Kejriwal tweeted, “I am told that most CBI officers were against Manish’s arrest. All of them have huge respect for him and there is no evidence against him. But the political pressure to arrest him was so high that they had to obey their political masters.”
Responding to it, the BJP MP said the CM was presenting a “fabricated script”. Mr. Tiwari wrote, “Let the law work, investigation on Liquor Minister’s liquor scam is on, soon will grow too, this is your fear too, isn’t it?”
