Atishi takes swipe at BJP over CBI summon to Kejriwal, 'They want to silence his voice'

After the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) summoned Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on April 16, in connection with the now-scrapped Delhi Excise policy case, AAP MLA Atishi Singh on Saturday, accused BJP of silencing Kejriwal's voice through CBI summons. She claimed that to date, the investigating agencies haven't been able to prove any corruption done by AAP leaders worth Rs 1. 

While addressing a press meeting, she said, "To date, the investigating agencies of the Central government haven't been able to prove corruption worth Rs 1 connected to any AAP leaders (Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, and Satyendra Jain). They said thousands of crore have been taken as part of corruption, but not a single penny they were able to recover." 

She went on saying that the probe agency has summoned Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal because they want to silence Kejriwal's voice. They want to scare Arvind Kejriwal because there is only one leader in the nation who is raising his voice against Centre," she added. 

Atishi takes swipe at Centre 

The 41-year-old AAP legislator from the Kalkaji constituency has accused BJP govt at the centre of prevalent inflation across the country. "It has been nearly 10 years of BJP government in India. The party spoke about 'Bahut hui mehengai ki war, ab ki baar Modi Sarkaar' during the run for the 2014 general elections. It's only Kejriwal who has been raising the issue of inflation. Today, the prices of petrol, diesel, and LPG have increased significantly. How will a common man run the home?" 

"Today, there are 5 crore unemployed youth and 22 crore malnourished people in India, and it's due to the BJP government. If the people of this country are getting poorer, then where the money of this country is going?" she asserted. 

Arvind Kejriwal summoned by CBI

In the Delhi Excise Policy Case, the probe agency has summoned Delhi CM Kejriwal to clear all the doubts about his alleged role in the case. According to sources, Kejriwal has been summoned after Manish Sisodia’s Secretary in the excise department, C Aravind took his name in front of the Central agencies. Aravind claimed that the decision to peg the profit margin in the new Delhi Excise policy from 5 to 12 per cent was taken at the residence of Kejriwal. 

The entire row on the Delhi Excise Policy case escalated when allegations were made that AAP leaders took kickbacks from Liquor traders in exchange for licenses. A CBI spokesperson after the FIR was filed on August 17, 2022, said, "It was further alleged that irregularities were committed, including modifications in excise policy, extending undue favours to the licensees, waiver/reduction in license fee, the extension of L-1 license without approval, etc." Notably, Kejriwal's summon comes after a month his deputy Manish Sisodia was arrested in the same case.