New Delhi: A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team on Friday quizzed Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia to seek clarifications from him in connection with a corruption case.
In January, CBI had registered a Preliminary Inquiry (PI) against Sisodia and several others in connection with alleged irregularities in Aam Admi Party (AAP) government’s social media campaign “Talk to AK”.
CBI started the inquiry after a complaint was filed by Vigilance Department.
According to sources in CBI, despite objections from the then Principal Secretary, the Delhi government went ahead with its “Talk to AK” campaign. It alleged that a consultant of a well-known public relations company, Perfect Relations, was hired to promote the campaign and a proposal of Rs15 million (Dh854,498) was prepared for this purpose.
The campaign, which was an interactive session of Delhi Chief Minister (CM) Arvind Kejriwal with the general public, was held on July 17 last year.
Through live streaming on the government website, the CM discussed a variety of issues including the relations between the Narendra Modi government and the Delhi government.
Reacting to the development, CM Kejriwal told media that the Centre was gunning for his government.
“The Central government is behaving in a dictatorial manner. Their motive is to finish the Opposition. This is part of a larger plot to undermine the democratically elected Delhi government. The Centre is using these agencies to build pressure on Aam Admi Party government,” he stated.
Meanwhile, in a statement, CBI said this was not a raid but “a visit” to the Deputy CM’s residence to seek clarification from the government with regard to irregularities in the said campaign.
“As per media query, there is no raid or search at premises of Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. The visit of the Central Bureau of Investigation’s team is merely to seek clarification on certain issues relating to in an ongoing inquiry,” CBI said in a statement.
