Holi is usually an occasion on which people even forgive their enemies. But the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Central Government has taken its political rivalry to a new low by putting AAP Senior Leader and former Education Minister Shri Manish Sisodia’s life under threat. The BJP government has got Shri Sisodia housed in Jail No 1 of Tihar Jail. This is the section of the jail where usually hardened criminals with very serious charges against them are lodged. Aam Aadmi Party on Wednesday slammed the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi-led government for taking their political vendetta against a leader who the people of Delhi immensely love and respect. Addressing a press conference, AAP Senior Leaders including Rajya Sabha MP Shri Sanjay Singh and AAP MLA Shri Dilip Pandey slammed the Central Government for taking vengeance against their political rivals in such a dangerous manner. They further said that the intentions of the government is now to kill Shri Manish Sisodia and therefore he has intentionally been kept in such a dangerous section of Tihar Jail.
Shri Sanjay Singh asked if it was right of the BJP-led Central Government to keep a person who is lauded for transforming the education sector of Delhi and providing a ray of hope to over 20 lakh children of Delhi. He asked why Shri Manish Sisodia has been kept in the same cell in which the country’s most dangerous and most dreaded prisoners are lodged. He further asked why was such enmity being shown by PM Narendra Modi towards Shri Manish Sisodia. He also pointed out that the Central Government is not willing to even listen to the orders of the court, which had said that Shri Manish Sisodia should be kept in a Vipassana cell.
He asked the people what Shri Manish Sisodia was being punished for as no evidence of the proceeds of any crime was found with him. He added that the CBI raided Shri Manish Sisodia’s house, village, office, and bank lockers, but did not find anything. The first chargesheet filed after taking the statements of the witnesses did not mention the name of Shri Manish Sisodia. His name also did not come up even in the second chargesheet. But suddenly Shri Manish Sisodia was made to be the main conspirator in the case and he was put in jail. He said that the senior AAP leader was being punished for providing good education to lakhs of children of Delhi.
He also highlighted how there was such vengeance being shown towards Shri Manish Sisodia, from whom not a single penny of the so-called scam was recovered, but on the other hand, Rs 8 crore cash was found in the house of the son of a Karnataka BJP MLA but neither ED nor CBI has been engaged in the case. He said that the people saw on TV the fat bundles of cash that were recovered from him and yet the accused managed to get bail so quickly.
He also urged the media persons to ask these questions to the BJP leaders and spokespersons. “I also want to request the media to ask these questions. Are you and the people of this country paying attention to the incident? When it comes to the case connected to a BJP MLA where the cash of 8 crores was found, the accused got bail immediately. Neither ED nor CBI investigated the matter. On the other hand, despite the order of the court, you caught Manish Sisodia and put him in a cell among the most dreaded criminals of the country, who have committed many murders, and where Sisodia could even be murdered,” he said.
Speaking on this matter, Shri Dilip Pandey said that it is on the orders of the BJP that Shri Manish Sisodia was lodged in Jail No 1 of Tihar Jail. He also pointed out that the senior AAP leader had earlier in the court said that he was being mentally harassed and tortured by the CBI as part of the investigation. AAP has also revealed that the CBI also tried to force him to sign a false statement in this matter earlier.
He criticised the BJP for taking the political discourse of this country to a new low. He said that the AAP and the BJP may be political rivals, but to execute such a plan in which one political rival is trying to get their opponent probably killed in the jail has not been seen earlier in this country. He linked such attacks on Shri Manish Sisodia to the political defeat that the BJP has faced from AAP several times in Delhi and last year also in the Punjab state polls. He added that just because AAP made a dent in its fortress in Gujarat in the recent elections and also snatched the MCD away from the BJP, these kind of attacks are taking place on leaders of Aam Aadmi Party.
He reiterated that the only mistake that Shri Manish Sisodia has made for which he is being punished so severely is that he has tried to provide good quality education to over 20 lakh children in Delhi. He lauded the former Education Minister for giving an opportunity to children from poor families to become doctors and engineers in the country. He provided them a ray of hope to fight poverty and improve the lives of their families.
Shri Dilip Pandey also pointed out that besides the Congress party, the leaders of nearly all the other parties of the opposition have announced their support in favour of Shri Manish Sisodia. He said that Chief Ministers of multiple states and other senior leaders of India have spoken out against this political vendetta against Shri Manish Sisodia.
He concluded by saying that the country has seen enough of the dictatorship of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and the way the BJP is running this country, the anger of the people against them will only get stronger. He demanded that Shri Manish Sisodia be brought out of Jail No 1 of Tihar Jail and be lodged in the Vipassana lodge as ordered by the court.
