Liquor policy made to exploit money to fight elections’: Gautam Gambhir targets Sisodia, AAP

Launching a scathing attack on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) after Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia's arrest, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Gautam Gambhir on Tuesday said the liquor policy was created to use money to ensure they could fight the elections with the help of Khalistanis. .

The cricketer-turned-politician called it an “open and shut case” and said: “They should get what they deserve. This is the first time in India that the Education Minister will go to Tihar Jail also in a liquor scam case. "This policy was created to misuse money so that they can fight elections with the help of Khalistanis," he added.

Escalating his attack, Gambhir said that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and AAP are now exposed. “If there was no contradiction in the liquor policy, it should not be taken back. This is not the time for emotional statements,” he added.

The statement from Gambhir comes hours after Sisodia filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging his arrest and the manner of the CBI's investigation in the alleged liquor case. Sisodia was arrested on Sunday evening in connection with alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-defunct Delhi Consumption Policy for 2021-22.

Earlier on Monday, a Delhi court had remanded Sisodia in five-day CBI custody in the excise policy case to enable the agency to get "genuine and legitimate" answers to questions put to him for a "proper and fair investigation". Earlier this month, the agency interrogated Delhi Minister Satyendar Jain in Tihar jail in connection with the case after obtaining permission from a judge. Arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case, Jain is not an accused in the excise policy case.

The CBI also probed the communications of AAP Vijay Nair, who is also lodged in Tihar jail, in connection with the excise money laundering case being investigated by the ED. Nair was earlier granted bail by the court in the CBI excise policy case.