Delhi BJP stages protest, demands sacking of Sisodia as deputy CM over ‘snooping scandal’

The Delhi BJP staged a massive demonstration near the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) headquarters on DDU Marg here on Thursday, demanding the sacking of Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia from his post over the alleged "snooping scandal" involving the Feedback Unit (FBU) of the Kejriwal government.

The Centre has cleared the way for registration of a case against Sisodia by giving sanction for prosecution to the CBI over the alleged illegal collection of "political intelligence" through a Delhi government department.

Leading the protest, working president of Delhi BJP Virendra Sachdeva, party MPs Manoj Tiwari and Parvesh Verma alleged that the creation of the FBU “endangered" national security. Sachdeva said the Feedback Unit reported directly to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and it was also directed to gather information about political opponents of the AAP, media organisations, business houses, among others.

The protesters raised slogans against Sisodia and demanded his removal from the post of deputy chief minister. The nod for Sisodia's prosecution came after the CBI had said it found during its preliminary inquiry that the FBU, set up by the AAP government to check corruption, allegedly collected "political intelligence" in violation of rules, and the agency recommended that an FIR be registered against him.

Sisodia while reacting to the development hit out at the Centre, describing prosecution sanction against him as a "cowardly" act. Taking to Twitter, he said, "Filing false cases against your rivals is a sign of a weak and cowardly person."

"The more AAP will grow, the more cases will be filed against us," he said in a tweet in Hindi. Sisodia is already facing a CBI case for alleged favours extended to liquor traders in the formulation of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise policy of 2021-22. He is to appear before the probe agency in this case on February 26.