New Delhi: As the CBI today raided Manish Sisodia, the Delhi Deputy Chief Minister, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) sneered that the agency would find nothing but "pencils and geometry boxes" at his home.
AAP and its chief Arvind Kejriwal alleged that the CBI arrived at Manish Sisodia's home just after he was featured in the New York Times over his education model.
The CBI had found nothing in past raids and would find nothing today, said AAP's Raghav Chaddha.
"They raided Arvind Kejriwal, found four mufflers. And all they will find in Manish Sisodia's home are pencils, notebooks and geometry boxes," Mr Chaddha said.
He said more than 100 AAP leaders were falsely charged and "one by one we were absolved in every case".
"They are preparing to arrest Manish Sisodia
Mr Kejriwal's office was raided by the CBI in 2015.
Manish Sisodia, who is Delhi's Education and Excise Minister, is being investigated by the CBI over a new liquor policy that he implemented for nine months before cancelling it last month.
The CBI states that Mr Sisodia introduced the policy on who would be allowed to sell alcohol without the permission of the Lieutenant Governor, who is the centre's representative in Delhi. The policy saw the Delhi government attempt to increase private players with licenses to sell alcohol. Mr Sisodia said the policy was meant to tackle corruption and fight the powerful liquor mafia.
AAP said Mr Sisodia was being targeted because of the high praise, at home and abroad, for his education model in the capital. The New York Times ran an article on Mr Sisodia on its front page on Thursday.
Mr Chaddha also said the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were setting probe agencies after AAP out of nervousness over Mr Kejriwal's rising national stature.
""Earlier they used to say Modi vs who? After we won Punjab, the same people are saying, Modi vs Kejriwal," Mr Chaddha said.
"The only agenda of the BJP is, 'finish Kejriwal'. It is no coincidence that the CBI team landed a day after the New York Times article," he alleged.