Manish Sisodia points to shoes, saris by BJP, says EC turning a blind eye

The Returning Officer of the constituency has filed two complaints with police — one for distributing shoes and the second for distributing saris. In both cases, police have recorded Non-Cognizable Reports.

Speaking about the challenges the AAP faces ahead of the polls, Sisodia said, “…what is a bigger issue is that the ECI (Election Commission of India) has become compromised. We can see clearly that a candidate is distributing shoes; the candidate is admitting he is distributing Rs 1,100; it is clear that voters are being registered artificially at MPs’ house addresses but there is no action. What is black and white in terms of election processes, is being so cleanly washed out that you don’t see anything. We have never seen such a compromised Election Commission.”

He, however, said the party still has faith in the institution.

“If the Election Commission decides, irrespective of how many fake voters are registered, how much money is distributed, we will not do anything even if the media shows that these things are happening, then what do elections even mean? I am saying this as an extreme situation. In the midst of all this, there is hope. When we seek their (ECI’s) time, they meet us and listen to us and raise queries, and I am sure action will also be seen soon,” he said.

“We still have faith in our systems and it is that faith that keeps us thinking that even if some people in the system are compromised, the entire system cannot be,” Sisodia said.

The three-time MLA from Patparganj, who was also the education and finance minister of Delhi until he was arrested in 2022 by the ED and CBI in the excise policy case, is contesting from a new constituency this time — Jangpura.

Talking about the BJP’s allegations against the AAP and its chief Arvind Kejriwal in the excise policy case and the CM House renovation, Sisodia said the BJP has neither work nor an agenda to gain people’s trust in Delhi.

“The BJP has lost its credibility. Whenever it says something about Kejriwal ji, people know that they have been slinging mud on him since 2015. Even now, people do not question Kejriwal ji’s honesty, his work or his lifestyle… I laugh at the BJP sometimes. You are the biggest party in the world, you have won three national elections, you have governments in many states but when you are coming to contest elections in Delhi, you have no vision,” he said.

“You (BJP) are telling people about Arvind Kejriwal’s toilet, whether it was gold or silver. Was there a swimming pool at Arvind Kejriwal’s house? What is this level of discourse? Look at where the world is. You want to weave a false story that the house has gold toilets and want to contest elections on a fake story. There was no excise scam, but that’s what you want to contest elections on the basis of? What dreams are you giving to the parents of young children, to the elderly?”