As CBI Gets 5-Day Custody Of Sisodia, AAP’s Political Journey In Tatters

The arrest of Delhi’s Deputy CM Manish Sisodia in the multi-crore excise scam was inevitable though it has sent shock waves in political circles. With the CBI getting his five-day custody, Sisodia’s detention and questioning in various aspects of the excise policy for 2021-22, which the probe agency found suffered from irregularities both in its formulation and implementation, is bound to embarrass the AAP leadership. The CBI had found that profit margins of liquor wholesalers were increased from 5% to 12% in the new excise policy on the insistence of the ‘South Lobby‘, a coterie of politicians and liquor businessmen who allegedly swung the policy in their favour. Ever since the CBI started its investigation, Sisodia, it is believed, systematically destroyed evidence by changing his phone — as many as 140 phones. Crucial to cracking the case has been the arrest of Butchibabu Gorantla, a former CA of K Kavitha, a BRS MLC and daughter of Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao. Babu had allegedly met several accused named in the FIR in Delhi, Hyderabad, and Mumbai and was one of the prime negotiators from the South Lobby, which wanted to swing policy in its favour. It is not just the BRS, even AAP and YSRCP leaders are involved in the scam. A close relative of Telangana PCC chief Revanth Reddy too is involved. In fact, Reddy has instructed his party leaders not to speak against Kavitha.