AAP-led Delhi govt involved in ‘liquor scam’; 2 middlemen left India, alleges BJP

PTI, Aug 19, 2022, 3:11 PM IST

The Delhi BJP on Friday accused the city government of being involved in a “liquor scam” of hundreds of crores of rupees as CBI raided the residence of Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in connection with alleged irregularities in execution of Excise Policy 2021-22.

West Delhi BJP MP Parvesh Verma accused Sisodia of corruption, and that two ”middlemen” who used to collect cash from liquor licensees have left the country.

”The Arvind Kejriwal government in which Manish Sisodia is the excise minister raised the commission of wholesale licensees from 2 per cent to 12 per cent. Out of this, 12 per cent to 6 per cent in cash was collected for the AAP government by several persons, two of which left the country as soon as a CBI probe was recommended by the L-G,” he alleged in a press conference.

He said with CBI coming into the picture, the Delhi government withdrew the Excise Policy 2021-22 and reduced the 12 per cent commission to 2 per cent.

Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta, in a tweet, said even during the COVID-19 pandemic, Sisodia was providing ”relief” to liquor mafia.

Cricketer-turned-BJP MP Gautam Gambhir said it is alleged they (AAP) have used funds from liquor licences in Delhi during Punjab elections. It is now time to expose all of them. One by one, their misdeeds are coming out in the open, he said.

Sisodia as well as Kejriwal earlier asserted that nothing will come out of the CBI raid, claiming they were dead honest and the Centre was harassing them and creating hurdle in the mission to make India number one country in the world.