Kejriwal in defence of Sisodia, says not afraid of "Savarkar Ke Aulad"

New Delhi: Reacting to the controversial allegations of corruption and patronage of the liquor mafia raised by Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena against his deputy Manish Sisodia, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that those allegations are "totally false".

He claimed that the centre is trying to stop Sisodia because he has been working tirelessly to improve the education system in Delhi, and has been getting praise and electoral support.

Kejriwal said that he had known Sisodia for 22 years, during an online press meeting, and added that he is a "hardcore honest" man. "I came to know that a case has been sent to the CBI against Manish Sisodia and they are going to arrest him in a few days. It is a completely fake case. There is not even an iota of truth in this case," he said.

Saxena today recommended a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the Delhi government's controversial new excise policy. Quoting the Chief Secretary's report, he said that Manish Sisodia, the Minister in charge of the Excise Department was involved in corruption and tried to benefit the liquor industry causing a huge loss to the exchequer.

Kejriwal trained his guns on the Center and accused them of framing Aam Aadmi Party leaders in fabricated cases to stop them from working, without mentioning the CBI inquiry demand.

"The new rule in India seems to be that first it is decided who has to be jailed and then that person is targetted relentlessly with all sorts of fabricated findings and lies," he said in a jibe at the Centre.

PM Mod-led BJP parties have been accused by different opposition parties of using investigating agencies for political revenge taking, NDTV reported.

Referring to BJP leaders as "sons of Savarkar", he said that his party leaders were the sons of Bhagat Singh, the freedom fighter who refused to bow to the British and chose death instead. "We are not afraid of going to jail," he said.

Kejriwal emphasized that the Aam Aadmi Party's popularity and electoral success because of its Delhi model had scared the Center, so they attack the party and jailed its MLAs.

"They want to stop the phenomenal work being done in Delhi. Singapore has invited mayors from across the world and asked me to come and show them how it is done. That is how good the work in Delhi is. But they want to stop all this. They want to harm us in order to keep looting you," he said.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's visit to Singapore was blocked by the Lieutenant Governor earlier this week.

The party slammed the move and Sisodia termed it "mean politics". Singapore High Commissioner Simon Wong had invited Kejriwal to the "World Cities Summit" in June where he is expected to address the meeting in August