CBI Raids AAP leader Manish Sisodia's residence; Party says BJP scared

In conjunction with its investigation into alleged anomalies in the Delhi Excise Policy, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inspected 21 places on Friday, including the home of Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. The department's head, Sisodia, initially responded by saying the central agency was "welcome" to do so.

Sisodia, also a senior AAP leader went on to add, "We welcome CBI. Will give full cooperation in the investigation so that the truth can come out soon. Till now, many cases have been filed against me, but nothing has come out. Nothing will come out of it either. My work for a good education in the country cannot be stopped. It is very unfortunate that those who do good work in our country are harassed like this. That is why our country has not yet become No 1."

The CBI searches happened to take place on the same day that The New York Times ran a front-page story in its foreign edition on the AAP government's "overhaul of public schools in the capital of India."

Arvind Kejriwal, the mayor Chief Minister of Delhi, welcomed the CBI searches and assured them of his party's complete cooperation. "The Centre sends CBI to his residence on a day when the Delhi education model is hailed and Manish Sisodia's picture is placed on the front page of America's major daily, the NYT," he claimed.

Why is CBI raiding Manish Sisodia's residence?

In connection with its investigation into the now-retracted new excise policy of the Delhi government, the CBI conducted a raid on Manish Sisodia, the deputy chief minister of Delhi, on Friday morning.

Sisodia had previously declared on July 30 that the ambitious new liquor policy (Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22) of the Delhi government will be completely cancelled and that as of August 1 only government-owned liquor sellers would be permitted to sell alcohol in the nation's capital. Due to alleged discrepancies in its new liquor policy, the Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) recently initiated an investigation into the excise department of the Delhi government.