Delhi minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday asked the BJP to share the purported sting featuring an accused in the excise policy case with the CBI and dared the probe agency to arrest him if the allegations are true.
He said if the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) does not arrest him within four days, it will be accepted that the sting video is yet another lie and part of the conspiracy "hatched at the offices of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to topple the Arvind Kejriwal-led government in Delhi.
The deputy chief minister also demanded that the prime minister extend an apology accepting that it was wrong for his office to indulge in hatching such conspiracies if the CBI fails to arrest him till Monday based on the allegations made in the so-called sting.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal patted his deputy's back for his statement, saying only a true and courageous person can throw such a challenge.
Sisodia's reaction came after the BJP shared the sting to claim that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi framed its excise policy to help a select few and used the money earned through alleged corruption to fund its campaign in Goa and Punjab assembly polls.
The BJP showed the sting at a press conference in which a person linked to liquor trade is claiming that the Kejriwal government deliberately kept smaller players out of its "tailor-made" excise policy, now scrapped, to help a few persons monopolise the market.
Kejriwal has no moral right to continue as chief minister, the party said.
Since the CBI did not get anything from my residence and bank locker while carrying out searches, they have brought a new sting, Sisodia told reporters at a press conference when asked for his comment on the sting.
"I want to request the BJP to hand over this so-called sting right now to the CBI. The CBI, which is an extended branch of the BJP, should carry out a speedy investigation and must arrest me within four days, till Monday, if there is any truth in the sting," he added.
He alleged that conspiracies like filing of fake CBI and ED cases as well as raids and searches by the central probe agencies are hatched "day and night" at the offices of the BJP and the prime minister to topple the other parties' governments in the states.
"If the CBI does not arrest me on the basis of the sting till Monday, it will be accepted that the sting was yet another lie and a part of the conspiracies hatched at the offices of the BJP and the prime minister to topple state governments," Sisodia said.
And then, the prime minister should also apologise accepting that it was wrong for his office to indulge in hatching such conspiracies, he added.
Kejriwal hoped that the BJP will accept Sisodia's challenge.
Wow Manish! Only a true and courageous person can throw such a challenge. I am sure BJP will accept your challenge, the chief minister said in a tweet in Hindi.
The entire country is proud of your work and your honesty. They are scared of the work that you have done in schools. They want to stop that. You keep doing your job, he added.
This was the second sting the BJP shared this month, stepping up the attack on the AAP over the excise policy.
Earlier on September 5, the BJP had released a purported sting video and demanded sacking of Sisodia.
The sting purportedly showed the father of one of the accused in Delhi excise policy case claiming to have paid "commission" to acquire liquor licences in Delhi.
Hitting back, Sisodia had termed the BJP's "sting operation" a "joke" while reiterating his claim the CBI had in a way given him a "clean chit" in the case as it did not find anything incriminating against him while carrying out raid and searches at his residence and a bank locker.
The CBI, however, rejected Sisodia's claim and clarified in a statement that the excise policy case was still under investigation and "as such no clean chit has been given to any of the accused".
