Silent on Manish Sisodia, Congress slams CBI questioning of Rabri Devi

The RJD is an ally of the Congress, and the two are in government together in Bihar. On Monday, soon after the CBI team reached Rabri Devi’s residence, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that Opposition leaders who were not ready to bow before the BJP were being “harassed” through the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI.

“Today Rabri Devi ji is being harassed. Lalu Prasad ji and his family have been harassed for years because they did not bow down,” Priyanka tweeted, adding that the BJP wants to “suppress” the voice of the Opposition.

जो विपक्षी नेता भाजपा के सामने झुकने को तैयार नहीं हैं, उन्हें ED-CBI के जरिये प्रताड़ित किया जा रहा है।

आज राबड़ी देवी जी को परेशान किया जा रहा है। @laluprasadrjd जी व उनके परिवार को वर्षों से प्रताड़ित किया जा रहा है, क्योंकि वे झुके नहीं।

भाजपा विपक्ष की आवाज दबाना चाहती है।

— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) March 6, 2023

The JD(U), the other partner of the RJD and the Congress in Bihar, did not react to Rabri Devi’s questioning. It was not among the eight Opposition parties that wrote to the PM either.

While the Congress central leadership had been largely silent when Sisodia was arrested by the CBI, its Delhi leaders had welcomed the arrest. Later, the central leadership had issued a statement criticising the use of Central agencies for “harassment”, but without taking any names.

Today, even as it criticised the CBI action against Rabri Devi, the party went a step further on the Sisodia matter. At a press conference, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate lashed out at the AAP for remaining silent when the ED questioned Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case.

Shrinate added: “We are not confused at all. Our stand is clear. We condemn the raid against Rabri Devi because it is not a coincidence that there is a four-fold increase in ED cases after 2014 and 95 per cent of the cases are against the Opposition. Your ED, CBI, Income Tax department, DRI (Directorate of Revenue Intelligence) don’t visit Adani’s residence… Drugs worth lakhs and crores are seized from his Mundra port, but the NCB doesn’t conduct even a single raid. So our stand against the misuse of agencies is crystal clear. We believe agencies are being misused against the Opposition.”

On Sisodia’s arrest, Shrinate said: “When the agencies actually go after the Opposition, be it against our leader, or in Bihar or against leaders of Maharashtra, the Aam Aadmi Party does not utter a word. Why don’t they speak? They have to decide whether they are the B-team of the BJP or in the Opposition. And if you are in the Opposition… you have to stand with the Opposition on every issue.”

Raising questions about the now-scrapped Delhi liquor policy, over which Sisodia is facing action, she said it was a fact that the policy was made at a time when the national capital was struggling to find oxygen during the Covid second wave. “And had that policy not been withdrawn, there would have been a liquor vend under every home, leading to anarchy and affecting the safety and security of women.”

She alleged that the BJP and AAP were doing shadow-boxing over the liquor policy, as it would have also benefited many donors of the BJP. “Our stand is clear. The allegations are serious. We are the original complainant. And there should be an investigation. In the same breath, we can say without any doubt that in most of the cases, you are using your agencies against the Opposition.”

Asked about other Opposition parties slamming Sisodia’s arrest, she said the Congress cannot control what other leaders are saying. “When the ED was conspiring against our leaders, the entire Opposition stood with us. But was it asked then that when the entire Opposition is standing with us, where is the Aam Aadmi Party? When a letter was sent to the President then, the entire Opposition signed, why did the AAP not sign? It cannot be that you would not utter a word when something happens to us, and when something happens to you….,” she said.

Among those who criticised the action against Rabri Devi Monday was AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, saying “raids like these are humiliating”. About whether it could be seen in connection with the letter sent by Opposition leaders to Modi on Sunday, the Delhi CM said: “It can be seen like that also. It is becoming a trend that wherever there are Opposition governments, they won’t be allowed to function.”

Asked about the Congress, apart from Left parties not being signatories to the letter the NCP and other parties sent to the PM, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said Monday that he had not spoken with them regarding the issue. “With all 5-10 people I spoke to, their signatures are there on the letter. With those, I didn’t speak with, their signatures are not there,” PTI reported him as saying in Pune.