Kejriwal promised to do clean politics but built a sheesh mahal and gave shape to the liquor scam: Rahul Gandhi

Lok Sabha LoP and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi addresses the gathering during a public meeting in support of party candidate Anil Chaudhary from Patparganj assembly constituency seat for the Delhi Assembly Elections, in New Delhi on January 28, 2025.
| Photo Credit: ANI

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi took a swipe at senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia on Tuesday (January 28, 2025), saying Delhi’s former Deputy Chief Minister “ran away from his constituency” because “people here already know that he is the architect of the liquor scam”.

Ahead of the February 5 Assembly election, AAP had changed Mr. Sisodia’s constituency from Patparganj, from where he has been elected thrice, to Jangpura. Civil services tutor Avadh Ojha was fielded in place of the former Deputy CM.

Also read |Delhi Assembly elections: AAP battling to retain tag of being change agents

The senior Congress leader also attacked AAP national convener and former CM Arvind Kejriwal, accusing him of disappearing when the city residents needed him. “Where was Kejriwal when the Delhi riots were happening or when people were suffering during COVID?” he said, addressing a rally in Patparganj.

The Rae Bareli MP added, “I don’t know whether the other parties are afraid of [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi, but Kejriwal is afraid of him. He [the AAP chief] promised to do clean politics but built a sheesh mahal and gave shape to the liquor scam.”

‘What of land grab?’

In response, Mr. Kejriwal launched a sharp counter-attack, targeting the Congress leader over the National Herald case and land grab case involving Robert Vadra.

“Don’t preach about fear and bravery. The country knows who is a coward and who is brave,” the AAP chief said in a post on X.

He added, “Modi puts people in jail in fake cases, like the liquor ‘scam’. Why haven’t you and your family been arrested in open-and-shut cases like the National Herald? How did Robert Vadra get a clean chit from the BJP?” Mr. Kejriwal said in the post in Hindi.

India bloc allies AAP and the Congress fought the 2024 Lok Sabha election in Delhi together. However, both parties are fighting the Assembly poll separately.