Grilled for 9 hours, Sisodia says he 'was asked to leave AAP for CM post' in CBI office

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday questioned Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia for almost 10 hours in connection with the Delhi liquorgate scam. After coming out, Sisodia alleged that the whole case is "fake" and has been done to make Operation Lotus successful.

"Today I saw in the CBI office that there's no issue of any scam (excise policy case). The whole case is fake. I understood all that in the nine hour-questioning today. The case isn't to probe any scam against me, but to make Operation Lotus successful in Delhi," he said.

Sisodia says he was offered CM's post

The Aam Aadmi Party leader also alleged that he was asked to leave the party or more such false cases will be registered against him.

"I was asked inside the CBI office to leave (AAP), or else such cases will keep getting registered against me. I was told 'Satyendar Jain ke upar konse sachhe cases hain?'...I said I won't leave AAP for BJP. They said they'll make me CM" Sisodia added.

Sisodia had arrived at the CBI headquarters around 11.15 am and left the anti-corruption branch at 8.40 pm after almost 10 hours of questioning.

The Delhi deputy chief minister was grilled on various aspects of the AAP government's excise policy, his relations with other accused, including businessman Vijay Nair, and documents recovered during searches in the case, the officials said.

The CBI has also questioned Raghava Reddy, the son of Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) Lok Sabha MP Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy, in the case.

Meanwhile, Sisodia will leave for Gujarat on Tuesday for poll campaigning, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said in a tweet.

Kejriwal had earlier claimed that the BJP-led government at the Centre plans to keep Sisodia in jail till the declaration of the Gujarat Assembly poll results as it does not want him to campaign in the state.