AAP fault lines exposed

Since 2012 the AAP had successfully placed itself on the lofty pedestal as a party that is clean and corruption-free and was almost looking to place itself to lead the disunited opposition in 2024 against the BJP. However, destiny had other plans as the AAP today has been shaken to its foundation when two of its senior most leaders- minister of home, health & family welfare and industries Satyendar Jain and deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia minister of finance, education, higher education, excise etc are now being probed by the ED and CBI. While Satyendar Jain is being probed for money laundering, deputy chief minister Sisodia, the most powerful AAP minister after chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, is being probed for alleged kickbacks in the liquor license case involving losses of around Rs. 2000 crores to the Delhi government’s exchequer. The scam case pertains to alleged corruption in the framing and implementation of Delhi’s excise policy 2021-22 which paved way for the entry of private firms into the retail liquor sector. The accusations involve extending undue favours to the licensees, waiver/reduction in licence fee, and extension of L-1 license without approval in return of bribes. It is said that the illegal gains from these acts were diverted to the public servants. According to the central agency, Sisodia and other accused public servants recommended and took decisions pertaining to the excise policy 2021-22 without the approval of competent authority with “an intention to extend undue favours to the licensees post tender”. There are serious allegations made by those former permit holders who were not considered because they did not pay bribe to the ‘authorized agent’ while new applicants who paid bribes eventually got the licenses. Arvind Kejriwal has not defended his right-hand man but only spoke about Sisodia’s achievement as education minister. Kejriwal realizes that improving educational institutions in Delhi is one thing and kickbacks from liquor license is another. After the scam, Manish Sisodia, referred to as Money Sisodia did a sudden U turn by reverting back to the old liquor policy when he has been strongly defending his new liquor policy. Amidst all of these, Delhi Congress under Ajay Maken, looked confused and pathetic when it resorted to protests demanding Sisodia’s resignation instead of taking a politically matured stand in demanding probes to unearth facts. This way Congress would shown that its stand was principled and also left room for likely opposition unity for 2024. AAP has been fighting elections in several states besides Delhi such as in – Punjab where it came to power with a little bit of help due to miscalculations by the Gandhi siblings; Goa where it expected to win but fared disastrously; Uttarakhand where it again expected something big but ended with zero and UP where it failed to win even one after contesting in 403 constituencies. Fighting elections requires money and the AAP by contesting in so many states has only shown it has the money and perhaps Sisodia exposed the modus operandi to obtain funds. The recent liquor scam in Delhi also comes just as AAP was on campaign swings at Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand and Karnataka. AAP has been merciless and at times slanderous in its attacks on leaders of other political parties on corruption. Now AAP is tasting its own medicine and proving that, its self-created halo as corruption-free party was all bunkum and should remember that those who live in glass houses should not throw stones.