New Delhi:

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s broadside on Arvind Kejriwal Tuesday – naming the former Delhi Chief Minister as the “architect of the liquor scam” and raking up the ‘sheeshmahal‘ jab, a staple of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s attacks – underlined the chasm between his party and the Aam Aadmi Party, both of which remain (on paper, if nothing else), part of the INDIA opposition bloc and national allies.

Addressing a rally in Delhi’s Patparganj, before the city votes next week in an election that could, potentially, enhance or break Arvind Kejriwal’s political reputation, Mr Gandhi took aim both at the AAP leader and his right-hand man, ex-Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, both of whom had been arrested, and jailed, by the Enforcement Directorate on corruption charges.

Both were released on bail, by the Supreme Court, late last year.

Mr Gandhi campaigning in Patparganj is significant because it is Mr Sisodia’s seat.

“… Kejriwal had a small car (the blue Maruti Wagon-R that the AAP leader reported stolen in October 2017) when he came, and he declared he will introduce a new kind of politics. He had climbed an electric poll and promised to transform Delhi…”

“But when the poor people of Delhi needed him, he was nowhere to be found. When there was violence in Delhi (referring to the riots of 2020) he was nowhere to be seen. He talked about ‘clean politics’ but the biggest liquor scam took place in Delhi,” Mr Gandhi raged.

And then the Congress leader weighed in with the ‘sheeshmahal‘ jab, comparing the BJP’s allegations – that the AAP spent Rs 45 crore to renovate the Delhi Chief Minister’s bungalow when Mr Kejriwal held the post – to his vacating his MP bungalow after he was suspended.

READ | ‘Sheeshmahal’ Showdown: AAP vs BJP Over Chief Minister Home

“I was thrown out of my house by (Prime Minister Narendra) Modiji… and I handed them (the BJP) the keys and said you can keep it. But Kejriwalji stays in a ‘sheeshmahal‘.”

READ | Rahul Gandhi Vacates Delhi Bungalow He Held Since 2005

The AAP and Congress were expected to contest the Delhi election together, even after acrimony over failed seat-share talks for the Haryana election and the latter’s big defeat. Mr Gandhi, in fact, was perhaps the seniormost Congress leader to push to continue the alliance.

But within each party’s Delhi units there has long been unease and distrust of the other, dating back to a failed alliance after the 2013 election; the two joined hands to keep the BJP out of power, but fell apart two years into the term, leading to a mid-term election the AAP dominated.

Eventually, the weight of failed talks in Haryana and the squabbling that preceded sharing of the seven seats in Delhi for the April-June federal election (all of which the BJP won), took its toll and Mr Kejriwal and the Congress declared they would each contest separately.

Since then the attacks on each other have been fierce; the Congress, for example, has also targeted Mr Kejriwal over his allegations the BJP mixed “poison” in Yamuna water being supplied to the city by the saffron party-ruled Haryana government.

Delhi’s 70 Assembly seats will vote in a single phase on February 5, with results due three days later. The AAP thumped the BJP and the Congress in the last two polls, winning 67 and 62 seats.

This time it faces a much tougher challenge – from the BJP.

NDTV Exclusive | “Change Inevitable”: Amit Shah Attacks AAP

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the BJP’s ultimate poll strategist, told NDTV his party is supremely confident of stopping a hat-trick of solo wins for Mr Kejriwal and the AAP.

New Delhi:

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s broadside on Arvind Kejriwal Tuesday – naming the former Delhi Chief Minister as the “architect of the liquor scam” and raking up the ‘sheeshmahal‘ jab, a staple of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s attacks – underlined the chasm between his party and the Aam Aadmi Party, both of which remain (on paper, if nothing else), part of the INDIA opposition bloc and national allies.

Hitting back, Arvind Kejriwal said Mr Gandhi was repeating the BJP’s speech, suggesting there’s an agreement between the two parties. 

Addressing a rally in Delhi’s Patparganj, before the city votes next week in an election that could, potentially, enhance or break Arvind Kejriwal’s political reputation, Mr Gandhi took aim both at the AAP leader and his right-hand man, ex-Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, both of whom had been arrested, and jailed, by the Enforcement Directorate on corruption charges.

Both were released on bail, by the Supreme Court, late last year.

“… Kejriwal had a small car (the blue Maruti Wagon-R that the AAP leader reported stolen in October 2017) when he came, and he declared he will introduce a new kind of politics. He had climbed an electric poll and promised to transform Delhi…”

“But when the poor people of Delhi needed him, he was nowhere to be found. When there was violence in Delhi (referring to the riots of 2020) he was nowhere to be seen. He talked about ‘clean politics’ but the biggest liquor scam took place in Delhi,” Mr Gandhi raged.

And then the Congress leader weighed in with the ‘sheeshmahal‘ jab, comparing the BJP’s allegations – that the AAP spent Rs 45 crore to renovate the Delhi Chief Minister’s bungalow when Mr Kejriwal held the post – to his vacating his MP bungalow after he was suspended.

READ | ‘Sheeshmahal’ Showdown: AAP vs BJP Over Chief Minister Home

“I was thrown out of my house by (Prime Minister Narendra) Modiji… and I handed them (the BJP) the keys and said you can keep it. But Kejriwalji stays in a ‘sheeshmahal‘.”

READ | Rahul Gandhi Vacates Delhi Bungalow He Held Since 2005

Arvind Kejriwal, whose party has been in power since 2013, criticised Mr Gandhi for repeating BJP’s claims. 

“Today Rahul ji repeated the entire speech of the BJP in Delhi. Tell the public what agreement has been reached between the BJP and Congress?” asked Mr Kejriwal.

लोग पूछ रहे हैं राहुल गांधी जी “राजमहल” पर चुप क्यों है?

आज राहुल जी ने दिल्ली में पूरा बीजेपी वालों का भाषण दोहराया। जनता को बता दो कि बीजेपी और कांग्रेस में क्या समझौता हुआ है? https://t.co/nRUoLCy0FM

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) January 28, 2025

In another post, Mr Kejriwal said,” Modiji puts people in jail even by making fake cases like liquor scam. Why haven’t you and your family been arrested in open and shut cases like National Herald? How did Robert Vadra get a clean chit from BJP? It is better if you don’t preach on fear and bravery. The country knows who is a coward and who is brave.”

The AAP and Congress were expected to contest the Delhi election together, even after acrimony over failed seat-share talks for the Haryana election and the latter’s big defeat. Mr Gandhi, in fact, was perhaps the seniormost Congress leader to push to continue the alliance.

But within each party’s Delhi units there has long been unease and distrust of the other, dating back to a failed alliance after the 2013 election; the two joined hands to keep the BJP out of power, but fell apart two years into the term, leading to a mid-term election the AAP dominated.

Eventually, the weight of failed talks in Haryana and the squabbling that preceded sharing of the seven seats in Delhi for the April-June federal election (all of which the BJP won), took its toll and Mr Kejriwal and the Congress declared they would each contest separately.

Since then the attacks on each other have been fierce; the Congress, for example, has also targeted Mr Kejriwal over his allegations the BJP mixed “poison” in Yamuna water being supplied to the city by the saffron party-ruled Haryana government.

Delhi’s 70 Assembly seats will vote in a single phase on February 5, with results due three days later. The AAP thumped the BJP and the Congress in the last two polls, winning 67 and 62 seats.

This time it faces a much tougher challenge – from the BJP.

NDTV Exclusive | “Change Inevitable”: Amit Shah Attacks AAP

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the BJP’s ultimate poll strategist, told NDTV his party is supremely confident of stopping a hat-trick of solo wins for Mr Kejriwal and the AAP.

New Delhi:

With Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal still in jail, his close confidante and former deputy Manish Sisodia has taken charge of the party’s campaign for the assembly polls in the national capital and Haryana.

Mr Sisodia, who has been granted bail by the Supreme Court in corruption and money laundering cases linked to the Delhi liquor policy case, will today hold a meeting of the senior party members.

The 52-year-old walked out of Tihar jail on Friday after spending 17 months behind bars, giving a shot to the AAP in its arm, which is still trying to fight the setback it received after its chief, Mr Kejriwal, was sent to jail in a case related to the alleged liquor policy scam.

The meeting of the AAP leaders is scheduled to be held at 6 pm at Mr Sisodia’s residence. 

Assembly elections in Haryana, where the AAP has announced to contest all 90 assembly seats, are due later this year, while polls in 70 constituencies of Delhi are expected to take place in the beginning of 2025.

Manish Sisodia Is Key Face Of AAP

Manish Sisodia, the former deputy chief minister of Delhi, has been the key face behind the rise of the AAP since its inception after the 2011 anti-corruption movement.

The AAP credits Mr Sisodia for “underscoring his pivotal role in shaping the multi-faceted governance landscape (of Delhi)” and “revolutionalising” the education system of Delhi government schools.

Before signing off his cabinet responsibilities, he held 18 crucial portfolios, including education, finance, planning land and building, vigilance services, women and child development, as well as art, culture, and languages, among others.

He, however, resigned from the Delhi cabinet on February 28, 2023, two days after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested him for alleged irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi liquor policy 2021-22.

Mr Sisodia has won the Delhi assembly elections thrice, securing the Patparganj constituency in East Delhi.

New Delhi:

A court in Delhi today extended the judicial custody of Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia till April 18 in a money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.

Special Judge Kaveri Baweja extended Manish Sisodia’s judicial custody after he was produced before the court on the expiry of the judicial custody granted earlier.

His party colleague Sanjay Singh, a co-accused who was recently granted bail by the Supreme Court in the case, also appeared before the court for the proceedings.

The CBI as well as the Enforcement Directorate have alleged that irregularities were committed while modifying the Delhi Excise Policy, undue favours were extended to licence holders, licence fee was waived or reduced and licences were extended without the competent authority’s approval.

The beneficiaries allegedly diverted “illegal” gains to the accused officials and made false entries in their books of account to evade detection, the probe agencies have alleged.

Manish Sisodia was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on February 26, 2023, for his alleged role in the “scam”.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Manish Sisodia in a money-laundering case stemming from the CBI FIR on March 9, 2023.

Manish Sisodia resigned from the Delhi cabinet on February 28, 2023.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)