Sisodia used money to 'send biryani' to Shaheen Bagh, says Parvesh Verma
BJP MP Parvesh Verma Friday attacked Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia over the arrest of an OSD in a case of alleged corruption and said the money was used by the Aam Aadmi Party leader for "taking biryani" to Shaheen Bagh.
Speaking to ANI, the BJP leader said, "This is not for the first time in five years that such a complaint has been made. We have complained earlier too. OSD is just a title. The title's owner is our deputy chief minister. This bribery money goes inside his pocket and is used for sending biryani to Shaheen Bagh."
The remarks came a day after the Election Commission issued a notice to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for saying that that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal offered biryani to Shaheen Bagh protesters.
Adityanath had made this remark during a speech in the national capital on February 1. The poll panel has asked him to respond to the notice by 5 pm Friday.
Earlier in the day, Sisodia sought stringent action against the Goods and Services Tax (GST) officer who is attached to his office and was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a case of alleged corruption.
Taking to Twitter, Sisodia said, "I've learnt that a GST officer has been arrested by the CBI for taking bribe. The agency must take strict action against him. I myself have caught such corrupt officials in the past five years."
On Thursday, sources said the officer, identified as Gopal Krishna Madhav, is alleged to be involved in a case of bribery to the tune of Rs 2 lakh and was arrested after a trap was laid. His arrest is in connection with a matter related to GST, sources said.
Sources said the decision to arrest him was taken late Thursday evening and he was eventually arrested around 11.30 pm. Madhav was taken to the CBI headquarters for questioning, officials said. Sources said that in 2015, Madhav, then posted with the department of trade and taxes of the Delhi government, was relieved and attached to the office of Sisodia. Since then, he has been an officer on special duty at his office.
On Wednesday, the poll panel had slapped a 24-hour campaign ban on Verma for his "terrorist" remark against Kejriwal. This was the second time that Singh, the MP from West Delhi, has been penalised by the polling body. Earlier, Singh was barred from campaigning for 96 hours after he told news agency ANI that protesters at Shaheen Bagh will "enter your homes and rape your sisters and daughters".
(Inputs and image from The Indian Express)
