New Delhi, Jan 18 (IANS): The Delhi BJP on Saturday launched an offensive against AAP leader Manish Sisodia, seeking details on the terms under which his family took loans totalling Rs 1.5 crore from three acquaintances during the liquor policy controversy.
In a joint press conference, Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva and New Delhi MP Bansuri Swaraj raised questions about former Delhi deputy chief minister’s disclosures in election affidavit about educational loans taken by his family for his son’s higher education in Canada.
Sachdeva said, generally, we take education loans from banks, but Sisodia borrows from business friends.
“Manish Sisodia’s election affidavit speaks volumes, indicating that like ordinary people, Sisodia makes fixed deposits in banks, but when he needs a loan he has friends who lend him millions of rupees, even on long-term basis,” he said, questioning the hidden terms under which the Rs 1.54 crore loans were given to the wife of former minister who drafted the controversial liquor policy.
Swaraj stated that Kejriwal and Sisodia talk about transparency in politics, but their election affidavits have brought them under a cloud of suspicion.
“They must explain how Kejriwal’s income is so low, and Sisodia must clarify why he took loans from individuals instead of banks and identify his three lending friends,” she said.
Sisodia’s affidavit mentions that his wife’s outstanding loans for funding their son’s education include Rs 86 lakh from Romesh Chander Mittal, Rs 58 lakh from Guneet Arora and Rs 10 lakh from Deepali.
Sisodia’s election affidavit identifies his son Meer Sisodia as a dependent and gives details of Scotiabank, 392 Bay Street, Toronto, where the AAP leader has opened three separate accounts to park funds for his son’s education. The affidavit also shows foreign exchange assets of about Canadian $3,980 (Rs 2.4 lakh) in the foreign bank.
Leaders in the BJP are now raising questions on the terms on which wife of Sisodia, an accused in the excise policy case out on bail, has taken personal loans of Rs 1.54 crore, considering that he has declared his family’s total assets to be worth only Rs 57 lakh.
Delhi BJP media chief Praveen Shankar Kapoor stated that whether it is Kejriwal or Sisodia, their abnormal income and sources of their loans during 2020-21 to 2023-24 remain suspicious.
“We are not making allegations but seeking clarifications on behalf of the people of Delhi.” he said.
Sachdeva said Kejriwal has not responded to BJP’s queries on why he understated his income in the election affidavit filed with nomination papers for the New Delhi constituency.
The Delhi BJP chief repeated his question to Kejriwal -- How is it possible for your income tax returns over the past decade to show income lower than your basic salary, but in the COVID year when the liquor policy was being made, your income surged 40 times?