New Delhi: Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday (August 22, 2022) came out in support of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is foisting "false" cases on opposition leaders in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls to divert people's attention from real issues such as price rise and unemployment. He said that "similar tactics" are being used in Delhi and stated that the BJP-led Centre is not ready to acknowledge the improvement brought in the education sector by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), despite The New York Times lauding it.
"Why is the BJP already in the preparation mode for the 2024 election? False cases are being lodged against opposition leaders and action is being taken against them through government agencies.
"It is because they (BJP) do not have an answer to real issues such as inflation and unemployment. To divert people's attention as also to ensure that leaders do not raise their voice on these issues, false cases are being foisted on them and they are being sent to jail," Yadav as quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
"Fake cases can be slapped on anyone. Look at Delhi. The New York Times has said that there has been an improvement in the education sector there, but the Centre is not able to accept it and a case was made out against them (AAP leaders)," he added.
Sisodia is among 15 people and entities named in an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with alleged irregularities in the implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22.
The AAP leader's house was also raided on Friday by the CBI over alleged corruption.
He, however, has stressed that the case against him is an effort to stop the good work being done by CM Arvind Kejriwal-led dispensation and also to put obstacles in the path of the AAP chief who has emerged as an alternative to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
(With agency inputs)
