4 min readNew DelhiMar 5, 2023 08:55 AM IST
First published on: Mar 5, 2023 at 06:06 AM IST
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) once again hit the streets Saturday to protest against former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia’s arrest in connection with the alleged excise policy scam on a day that his CBI custody was extended till Monday by a city court.
Protesting against “the dictatorship of the PM Narendra Modi-led Central government”, they marched to the BJP’s national headquarters only to be stopped by Delhi Police officials.
Taking part in the protest, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said the party’s struggle against the Centre will continue in courts, streets and the Parliament. “Each citizen and AAP worker can see through your evil designs now. No matter what you do, the Aam Aadmi Party’s work will continue, the people of Delhi will not be deterred, our caravan will not be halted and Arvind Kejriwal’s popularity will never wane,” Singh said.
Singh also reiterated how Sisodia, “who was not even named in the first charge sheet” in the case, was first taken on 5-day remand and alleged that the entire procedure so far by the CBI “reveals that their intention is to extract an admission of guilt through harassment, force, and intimidation.”
AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged the agency “works directly at the instructions of the central government and not as a federal agency.” “No fresh argument was presented by the CBI today that would necessitate the extension of Manish Sisodia’s remand, effectively saying that the only way Manish Sisodia can cooperate with them is by accepting their unfounded allegations. The people can see through the BJP’s designs. The history of democracy shows that whenever a central government has abused its power to oppress the people, the people have registered their response to it in the next election. BJP will get its response from the people in the coming time,” he added.
Hitting out at AAP, Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor sought to caution Delhiites against “traffic jams” which would result from AAP protests in future as well on days when Sisodia was scheduled to be produced in court. “First they looted Delhiites through corruption and now the AAP is harassing them by disrupting traffic every day. Delhi’s citizens should become used to the fact that this will happen every 14 days when Manish Sisodia is supposed to be produced in court,” Kapoor added.
Meanwhile, politics continued over ‘I Love Manish Sisodia’ desks that popped up outside city schools on Friday.
Northeast Delhi BJP MP Manoj Tiwari filed a formal complaint with the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) alleging “breaching of rights” of school children by the AAP through the misuse of “government resources, power and position” to pressure school principals, teachers, staff members to “organise events and gain public sympathy”.
The AAP government had claimed neither any government department nor any of its employees were involved in the initiative and it was helmed by parents of children.
The NCPCR directed the Delhi Police Commissioner to register an FIR against members of the ‘Education Task Force’ and directed him to investigate the alleged case and provide call detail records of the individuals named in the complaint along with an action taken report within 3 days. Later in the day, police lodged a defacement case against the School Management Committee (SMC) Convenor of Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya for allegedly setting up the desks at government schools in the city.
Meanwhile, politics continued over ‘I Love Manish Sisodia’ desks that popped up outside city schools on Friday. (Express Photo) 
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