Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and MLA Shri Dilip Pandey launched a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), calling it a “corrupt politician purifier party.” He accused the BJP of running a campaign to ‘purify’ those accused to be the most corrupt politicians of the country, like Himanta Biswa Sarma, Narayan Rane, Shubhendu Adhikari, etc. and reward them with high positions within the government or the party. The AAP MLA also challenged PM Narendra Modi to present any concrete evidence found against Shri Manish Sisodia after the slew of raids, questioning and custodial investigations he has been subjected to.
Shri Dilip Pandey noted how the BJP and its “front organisations”, namely the CBI and the ED, while accusing Shri Manish Sisodia of a scam of ten thousand crores could not present the recovery of even ten rupees to date. He explained that the BJP is adamant about keeping Shri Manish Sisodia, who lit the torch of an education revolution in Delhi, in jail because BJP’s politics of divide and rule would be fundamentally threatened if the children of this country receive a quality education. He lamented how the BJP is so adamant to eliminate the opposition that it has put everything at stake, from law and democracy to the autonomy and intelligence of investigative agencies.
The AAP senior leader cited the case of Himanta Biswa Sarma, an erstwhile senior Congress leader against whom BJP had launched a concerted campaign accusing him of involvement in a water scam. He recalled how the BJP had released a booklet against the water scam and would pick out a thousand scams and controversies about Sarma. But when the political opportunity arose, BJP purified him in its “purifier machine” and made him the Chief Minister of Assam.
Shri Dilip Pandey also pointed out the case of Narayan Rane from Maharashtra, who was allegedly implicated in serious cases like money laundering, land scam etc. but, he added, “once he joined the BJP, the party turned him from a tainted politician into a 24-carat pure metal through their purifier.” He further highlighted the case of Subendu Adhikari, who used to be a prominent face in the protests against the BJP earlier but was purified of his alleged involvement in the Saradha scam after he joined the BJP.
He cited a very recent case from the state where a BJP MLA’s son was caught taking a bribe of 40 lakh rupees by the Lokayukta. Moreover, the people saw on news channels videos of unaccounted cash of 8 crores rupees found on raiding the house and office. He added how some time back, a contractor in BJP-ruled Karnataka had died by suicide after disclosing that he had to give the then PWD minister a 40% commission as a bribe. Contactors from all over the state had gathered and created pressure after which the PWD minister had to resign. This resignation was a self-admission that the BJP operates a ‘40% commission government’ in Karnataka.
The MLA shared that it is said to be an open secret in Karnataka that there are about 18 ministers in the state government whose sons, daughters and sons-in-law broker deals with contractors in the antechambers of the ministers. He added, “This one was caught, 18 corrupt names are still remaining in the Karnataka government. Despite these serious corruption cases, BJP remains quiet on its own members because once someone is inducted into BJP’s purgatory they are purified of all their sins and stains.”
Shri Dilip Pandey reminded the people how the day Shri Manish Sisodia was supposed to get bail in the CBI case, was the day ED decided to slap a new case on him. He said, “There is not even a pretence of normal times anymore, they have made a public mockery of all democratic institutions.” He informed that the CBI’s lawyer did not even show up in the court on the day Shri Sisodia’s bail hearing was scheduled because he was already aware that nothing was to happen that day. “The CBI lawyer was assured that ED, another agency, will get a hold of him and keep him in jail that day by hook or by crook,” he said.
He challenged PM Narendra Modi to present any concrete evidence found against Shri Manish Sisodia after the slew of raids, questioning and custodial investigations. Shri Dilip Pandey said that the court has also been asking them to show the money trail or any money recovered from their raids on Sisodia’s house, village, office, and bank lockers. “Let alone 10 thousand crores, not even 10 rupees were found,” he added.
Explaining BJP’s motive, the AAP senior leader noted that BJP has gone into an overdrive to divert attention from its scams and crimes and for the same, it has decided that Shri Manish Sisodia must be kept in jail and defamed. “Since the BJP has decided as much, the institutions will keep changing, be it the CBI or ED or something else, but they will keep doing BJP’s bidding. Shri Arvind Kejriwal and his ministers are a convenient target for the BJP to ensure that there is no public discourse around the Modi-Adani scams, the Hindenburg report, etc. But despite trying their best, they will find no evidence against Shri Manish Sisodia,” he concluded.
