Liquor Policy Row: BJP Ups Ante Against Delhi-Governing AAP With New 'Sting Op' Video

© Pixabay/CC0Bottles of liquor, bar
Bottles of liquor, bar - Sputnik International, 1920, 15.09.2022
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Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor (LG) Vinai Kumar Saxena in July recommended a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the liquor policy launched by the Aam Aadmi Party government in November 2021.
Stepping up criticism of the now-rolled back liquor policy, which was introduced by the Delhi government last fall, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday released a video clip to show that the Arvind Kejriwal government had allegedly received kickbacks from key players in the liquor industry.
The BJP's national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi and the party’s Delhi unit chief Adesh Gupta released the sting operation video during a press conference at the party's headquarters in the Indian capital.
The BJP politicians claimed that the person in the video is Amit Arora, one of the accused in the liquor policy scam.
In the complaint filed by India’s anti-corruption watchdog, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Arora was accused of being involved in managing and diverting the undue pecuniary advantage accrued from liquor licenses to public servants. Arora is a close aide to Delhi deputy state chief Manish Sisodia.
While releasing the video, the BJP alleged that the Delhi government had demanded INR 50 million ($628,317) in fees for companies to get tenders under the new excise policy.
This is the second sting video released by the BJP.
The party released the first video on September 5, claiming that the father of Sunny Marwah, another accused in the corruption case related to liquor policy, said in the video that Sisodia had received kickbacks for issuing liquor licenses.
Meanwhile, reacting to the latest allegations, Sisodia said that the BJP should submit the sting video to the CBI, which is “acting like [an] extended unit of the federally ruling party.”

"CBI raided my residence and checked my locker, but they did not find anything. The CBI should probe this sting and if it is found true, then they should arrest me within four days. If you don’t arrest me by Monday, then accept that this sting is fake," Sisodia said.

"They should apologize and accept that Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had plotted this sting against me," he added.
The two parties have been engaged in a political slugfest since the CBI conducted raids at 31 locations, including Sisodia’s Delhi residence, on August 19 over allegations of corruption in the now-rolled back liquor policy introduced by his government in November 2021.
Days after the raids were conducted, Sisodia claimed that a BJP politician had sent him a message, saying that all the cases against him would be closed if he were to quit the AAP and join the BJP.
The federally governing BJP is the main opposition party of the AAP in Delhi and both are set to contest Delhi's civic authority elections soon.
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